The Secret's in the Telling
by othfan326
Summary: Alternate ending to 4x01 i know there are a lot of these, but please give it a shot.  BL.  I dont own OTH...duh.
1. Chapter 1

Set during 4x01, when they are talking on the boardwalk. Everything before it is the same, everything after will be different.

Title- "The Secret's in the Telling" by Dashboard Confessional

* * *

"_I'm not pregnant, okay?" Brooke said. "I promise," She added and saw Lucas relax at her words._

Lucas closed his eyes and silently cursed himself for thinking that she would lie to him.

When he opened his eyes again he stared intently at Brooke. She looked like she was about to cry and the fact that he didn't know why pained Lucas. He knew that he had been hurting her the past few weeks, and the thought made him sick.

"I need to talk to you," He finally said as he exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I thought that was what we are doing here," Brooke said motioning between them.

"We are," he said and then hung his head for a second. He picked it up with a sort of tired expression in his eyes. "But you have a look in your eyes that says you want to run away from me and this conversation right now, so I don't want to push you."

Brooke nodded, surprised that he could still read her so well. "Thank you," she whispered.

Lucas took a deep breath. "I do need to talk to you though," he said sighing. "And it's important." He added causing Brooke to look back up at him instead of looking at her feet.

She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but something deep inside of her that was hurting her told her not to ask. Something told her that she would get an answer, or lack there of, that would end up hurting her even more.

After a painfully long silence Lucas finally spoke again.

"Do you want to come back to the hospital with me?" He asked.

Brooke shook her head no.

"I want to," she said. "But there are some things I have to take care of."

Lucas shot her a concerned look which she picked up on.

"Everything fine….at least it will be. I'll explain later I guess."

"Okay," he said softly, again not wanting to push her farther. "So will you come by my house later?" he asked tentatively.

"Sure," she whispered. Part of Brooke wanted to fall into his arms and cry, but the other part wanted to be as far away from him as possible and she couldn't figure out why.

"I should go now," she said softly.

She stood on tip-toes for a moment and placed a soft kiss on his cheek and then walked away from him, not looking back to see the confused and pained expression on his face.

* * *

Lucas stood in the shower. He closed his eyes and let the hot water run over him. He wanted to stay there for hours; it was so relaxing. He knew he couldn't though. It was 8:30 and his day wasn't even close to over.

He sighed, turned the water off and grabbed a towel. He went back into his room and changed into a simple pair of pajama pants and a grey tee shirt.

* * *

He sat on the end of his bed, letting the minutes slowly tick by. He was hunched over with exhaustion. Not only did jumping off a bridge take a lot out of him, but the emotions running through him the whole day made him just want to crawl up into a ball and sleep for days.

He heard a faint knock on the door and he practically jumped off of the bed.

* * *

Brooke had been sitting in her car for the past 20 minutes. She had been staring at Lucas' door ever since she arrived.

Contradicting thoughts had been running through her mind as she sat in silence. One part of her wanted to go inside and just be with him; silence all of her worries and just be there with him. The other part of her felt as though she needed to protect herself from him; she felt like she needed to cut her losses before he could do it for her.

She saw the clock on the dashboard change to 8:45 exactly.

_Now's as good a time as any_ she thought to herself as slowly got out of the car and made her way to his door.

* * *

Lucas slowly opened the door to reveal Brooke. She was still in her bride's maid's dress and she looked sad. Maybe not sad but rather disappointed and tired.

There an unusual distance between the two that night. Lucas could feel it when she kissed him on the cheek earlier, and he could feel it now more than ever.

Though he was scared of the distance, he was still happy to see her. There was something about Brooke that made Lucas feel like everything was going to be okay.

Lucas took a cautious step towards her and hugged her for a moment, but he was hurt when he didn't feel her hug him back, so he stepped away and gave her space to enter his bedroom. As he waited for her to move he realized that neither one had said a word yet; everything he was planning to tell her tonight was going to be much harder than he thought.

Brooke didn't move. She almost seemed scared to enter his room. Instead of entering she just turned and took a seat on the highest step of his porch.

Lucas stood there confused as he watched her. He grabbed his Scott Body Shop sweatshirt and offered it to her as he took a seat beside her.

Brooke smiled softly as she accepted the sweatshirt she loved. As she slipped it over her head and over he dress she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent which seemed to permanently mark the hoody.

"Brooke," Lucas said quietly. It was the first word of the night.

"Are you in love with Peyton?" she cut him off with her blunt question.

He gave her a confused and slightly offended look.

"Are you? Do you have any feelings for her?" She asked again, this time with a little anger in her voice.

"No," Lucas answered sternly and calmly.

Brooke wanted to believe him, but she didn't know if she could anymore.

"Why are you asking me something like that?"

Brooke didn't answer; she didn't even look at him, she just stared ahead. She was about to speak again when Lucas cut her off this time.

"There are a lot of things that I need to talk to you about right now." He said quietly, almost as if he was ashamed of what he was saying.

A knot formed in Brooke's stomach. She was convinced that he was going end things before she could.

"I'm listening," she said, her voice cracking ever so slightly.

"There's a lot that I need to say," Lucas said, finally adjusting his position so that he was facing her. "And I would really appreciate it if you just let me tell you everything before we go from there." He said.

Brooke was now sure that he was ending their relationship.

"First of all, I wanted to apologize for what I said at the wedding today," He said. "About Chris," he added, choking on the last word. "I had not right to bring that up. I forgave you for that a long time ago, but when we were in that room, I felt so helpless. I needed something to fight back with and that was the only thing I could think of. I don't even know why I wanted to fight back." Lucas said and then paused for a while.

"I also wanted to tell you that you're right. I don't show you how much I love you and I don't let you all the way in. So starting tonight," he said getting more nervous by the word. "I will. I want to explain everything….starting with the kiss." he said the last part quietly yet confidently. There was no turning back now, he thought.

"Lucas," Brooke pleaded with a flicker of anger in her eyes. "I don't want to talk about her."

"Neither do I," Lucas said. "But we have to. I have to." He corrected himself. "I have to tell you exactly what happened." he said and Brooke silently gave in and waited for him to continue.

"I walked into that library and found Peyton lying there helplessly. She was sitting against a book case clutching her bleeding leg. I tried to go get her help but she didn't want me to leave her, so I stayed. I sat next to her for an hour just watching as her leg continued to bleed out." Lucas said finding it hard to recount what happened. "She was floating in and out of consciousness at that point. I promised her that I would get her out of there, but I don't think she believed me. She was talking about some snow day you spent together, and then when she stopped talking and it got too quiet. She leaned up to me and barely pecked me…and then she whispered 'in case you don't keep your promise'." Lucas said. "And that was it. She passed out on my shoulder and I picked her up and took her out of the school. That's it. I never returned the kiss. The only thing that the kiss meant was that she was giving up and I had to get her help. That was it. I would never do that to you again, Brooke." Lucas said.

As Brooke listened to him recount what happened she felt as though she was going to throw up; partly because of guilt for what happened to her best friend, and partly because picturing the two together broke her heart.

When Lucas finished talking she looked up at him and saw it in his eyes that he was finally telling the truth.

"And the reason that I didn't tell you," Lucas finally continued. "Was because I didn't want to hurt you. I knew how much it hurt you last time, and I never wanted you to feel that way again. So in the process of trying not to hurt you, I hurt you even more, and I'm so sorry for that Brooke. I promised you that I wouldn't hurt you again, and I did." Lucas said with a lump starting to form in his throat.

Brooke didn't respond. She was still trying to take in everything he was telling her. After a minute of silence Lucas surprisingly continued.

"The second thing I wanted to talk to you about," Lucas said. "…..Is my HCM."

Brooke quickly picked her head up and looked at him, shocked that he wanted to talk to her about it.

"I lied to everyone about it. I even lied to myself about it. I kept denying it because I thought that if I never admitted it, it would just go away…I wanted to tell you about it, I really did. I just didn't want you to worry about me…or look at me differently."

"Lucas," Brooke finally breathed out. "I would never look at you or treat you differently because of your heart."

"I know," Lucas said. "I know that, and I know how foolish I was being to keep it from you. I was just…scared, so I was being irrational."

Brooke was surprised and a little impressed. She had never heard Lucas admit that he was scared before this.  
"Lucas," Brooke said again. She didn't have anything to say after it, but she was so taken aback by what he was telling her that he couldn't help it.

"The last thing that I need to explain to you," Lucas said and then took a deep breath. "Is about why I didn't call you."

This obviously hit a sore spot, more so than the other things he had told her. This was the reason why Brooke felt she was losing the guy she loved.

"We got as far as the 'leaving Tree Hill' sign before I took out my cell to call you." Lucas admitted. "But my mom asked me not to call you. She asked me if we could spend the time completely away from the rest of our lives. And as much as I missed you, I knew she was right. I needed that time to sort out my life. When I left, I was lost. So much had happened; I didn't know how to deal with it anymore." Lucas said. He paused for a minute, choosing his next words carefully. "Do you remember how you asked me to save you?" Lucas asked.

Brooke nodded her head softly.

"The truth is that I never want to have to save you. I never want you to be in a position where you would need me to save you like that." Lucas said. "But with that said…you saved me Brooke." Lucas said and Brooke looked at him confused. "When I left with my mom, we spent that time looking at colleges and trying to look to the future, but the whole time I was away, I was thinking of you. When I was gone I realized that you are my future, Brooke. You are the one that brought me out of the dark place I was in after Keith died. You saved me from myself." Lucas quietly added.

The sat there in silence for only a few seconds, but it felt like minutes.

Lucas was horrified though when he saw a tear slide down Brooke's face.

"Brooke?" Lucas asked as she changed his position so that he was kneeling on the stairs in front of her. "Why are you crying Pretty Girl?" he asked softly.

Lucas cupped her cheek with his hand, which much to his dismay caused her to let out a sob.

"I'm sorry," Brooke managed to choke out as she cried harder.

"For what?" Lucas asked. "What's wrong?"

Brooke took a minute to catch her breath and regain her composure. She took Lucas' hand off of her check and held it in her hand gently.

"When I came here tonight," Brooke said, fighting to hold back a new set of tears. "I came to tell you that I couldn't do this anymore. I was so scared that I had lost you, that you had changed, and that you didn't know me anymore." Brooke admitted.

"You were going to give up on us?" Lucas asked. A mixture of emotions ran through him; he was confused, heartbroken, and angry at the same time.

Brooke didn't answer.

"Listen to me Brooke." Lucas said more sternly. "If there is one promise that I have kept and that I will keep, it's that I'm never letting you go." Lucas said. "You are the love of my life." He said slowly and compassionately.

A soft whisper of a smile crept onto Brooke's face.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

Lucas sighed. "How about we both stop apologizing for the things we did? Okay?"

"Okay."

Lucas stood and pulled Brooke up with him.

"Now how about we go inside? it's getting cold out here." Lucas offered.

"Thanks," Brooke said quietly as they walked in and she sat on his bed. "I really didn't want to stay alone tonight." She admitted.

"Alone? Why would you be alone?" Lucas asked.

"Well Rachel's still in the hospital, and her house is really big and lonely, I didn't want to be the only one there."

"You're staying at Rachel's now?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah," Brooke said quietly.

"Why? Don't you hate her? I mean I get that you're mad and you don't want to stay with…you know who, but Rachel? You know you can stay with me right?" Lucas asked.

"I know..now. But I wasn't exactly going to ask you that earlier today. Besides, it turns out that she's not as bad as I made her out to be." Brooke said.

Lucas shrugged. "If you say so," he said chuckling a little. "But you are staying with me tonight, right?"

Brooke nodded.

"Good," Lucas said with a soft smile.

As he went to close the doors to his bedroom, Brooke slipped her dress of from under the sweatshirt and crawled into bed. Lucas joined her and pulled her close so that her body was completely fitted in his.

Lucas breathed in her scent. "I love you,"

"I love you too."

"You're the girl for me, Brooke Davis," Lucas whispered.

Brooke turned around so that she was facing him.

"You're the guy for me, Lucas Scott," she replied.

She leaned up carefully and let her lips graze his softly. Lucas leaned back into her and deepened the kiss. Both wanted to take it farther, but they were tired so they reluctantly broke apart and settled down back in bed.

There would be plenty of time for kissing tomorrow…


	2. Author's Note: Please Read

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews. I really appreciate them all.

This was originally supposed to be a one shot, but I do want to continue and make it a full story. In order for me to do that though, I'm going to need help from everyone who reads this. Please leave reviews about what from s4 you want to happen, what you don't want to happen, any other ideas you have, and so forth.

Thanks,

Allie

p.s.- ill have the next chapter up later today


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you so much for the reviews! i really appreciate every one of them. This was supposed to be a one-shot, but i decided to continue for a few chapters (maybe more, who knows).

Warning: there is a sex scene in this chapter.

* * *

The next morning Brooke began to wake, smiling as she remembered what had happened the night before. She rolled over in bed expecting to find Lucas. Instead, she found the cold crumpled sheets of where he slept. Brooke sat up, looking around for him. She got out of bed, still in his oversized sweatshirt and made her way to his bedroom door. She opened it a little and stuck her head in the hallway quietly calling for him. He didn't answer, so she made her way to the door leading outside. 

She quickly opened the door, only to be met with a paint brush covering her toes with a cool liquid.

"What the hell!" She yelled as she jumped back.

"Jesus!" Lucas muttered. "You scared me." he said as he stood up and made his way back inside.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked, examining her now red foot.

Lucas took the door knob and swung open the door to reveal a newly painted red door.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise," Lucas said as he closed the door again and then stood in front of her.

Brooke smiled brightly. It was the first time in a long time that Lucas saw the dimpled smile he loved so much; seeing it alone made him smile too.

"Thank you," Brooke whispered huskily as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Lucas pushed her backwards so that she was laying on the bed. He propped himself up over her with his arms and deepened the kiss. He could feel Brooke's tongue tracing his bottom lip, causing him to happily open them for her. When they were both out of breath, the reluctantly pulled away.

"Wow," Lucas breathed out. "That was some thank you."

Brooke nodded and giggled again. She could express how happy she was that they were finally getting back to a place in their relationship that they loved.

Lucas stood and went into the bathroom.

"Wha—where'd you go?" Brooke asked.

Lucas reentered a minute later with a washcloth and some baby oil causing Brooke to kink an eyebrow at him.

Lucas knelt in front of her. He put some of the baby oil on the washcloth and proceeded to clean the paint off of her feet.

When he was done he couldn't help but to begin trailing soft kisses up her smooth, bare legs. He planted soft kisses on the inside of her thighs causing her to take a sharp breath in and throw her head back.

"Lucas," she mumbled.

"Mmm?"

"We can't do this now," she said.

This caused Lucas to finally lift his head up.

"Why not?"

"Because I really don't want your mother walking in on us."

Lucas laughed a little.

"What? You do?" Brooke joked.

"No, definitely no." Lucas said. "But she left for the café a while ago. It's just you and me, Pretty Girl," Lucas said the last part in a deep, sexy voice.

Brooke smiled mischievously and quickly grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head and then ran her hands over his muscular chest. Lucas picked Brooke up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Lucas stood and walked them over to the other side of the bed, placing her gently down with her head on the pillows.

Lucas resumed his earlier position on top of Brooke as their kisses became more heated. Lucas pressed his hips down into hers, and she quickly felt him harden. Lucas lifted her up so that he could pull the sweatshirt up over her head. Lucas discarded the sweatshirt somewhere in the room. He pulled back for a moment and relished in the site before him. He cupped her breasts in his hands and gave each a soft yet generous squeeze, causing Brooke to moan his name into his mouth. He trailed kisses up and down her collarbone as she ran her hands through his hair. He could feel her fumbling with the waistband of his pants, she suddenly pulled them down.

They didn't need foreplay or any special games like they often did in the past. For the first time since before the shooting, they both completely understood each other; they knew what the other wanted and what the other needed.

As Lucas entered Brooke, they both moaned into each other's mouths. They quickly found a perfect rhythm, and soon they reached their orgasms together.

Lucas rolled over and pulled Brooke closer to him.

"One hell of a morning," Brooke whispered.

"Incredible," Lucas whispered back as he continued to kiss her neck and shoulders.

Eventually they fell back to sleep, until the sound of the phone ringing woke them both quickly.

"Ughhh" they both groaned at the rude awakening.

"Hello?" Lucas said groggily into the phone. "Yeah, hold on," he said as he passed it over to Brooke. "It's for you."

"For me?"

"Yep," he said as he tried to go back to sleep.

"Hello?" Brooke said into the phone.

_"Hey bitch"_

"Hi, Rachel" Brooke said with fake enthusiasm.

_"Figures that you would be in bed with him now."_

"What exactly do you want from me?"

_"Well I figured that since I've graciously offered for you to live with me instead of in your car, I was expecting you to at least pick me up from this godforsaken place."_

"Of course! I'm so sorry. When do you get discharged?" Brooke asked.

_"An hour."_

"I'll be there." Brooke said and then hung up the phone.

"Do you have to go?" Lucas asked as he rolled back over to face her.

"Unfortunately, yes," she sighed.

"You have some clothes in the bottom drawer of my dresser." Lucas said before kissing her on the forehead. "I'm gonna go make some coffee."

"Thank you," Brooke said, and then kissed him softly on the lips.

Lucas got out of bed and slipped his pants back on and made his way to the kitchen, leaving Brooke to get ready.

A few minutes later Brooke entered the kitchen in jeans and a tank top, to find a still shirtless Lucas pouring them coffee.

"That's not fair," she said. She thought that even after he quit basketball, he somehow looked more buff than ever.

"What isn't?" Lucas asked, walking over to her and handing her the mug.

"You need to put a shirt on," she said.

Lucas laughed a little. He kissed her on the forehead, then on her nose, and then right under both ears.

"Please Lucas," Brooke begged, stopping his lips from meeting hers. "If you keep doing that, I'm never going to get out of here."

"Well that was my plan all along," he said and winked.

"Yes, but I'm living with Rachel now, so picking her up from the hospital is something that I should do."

Lucas sighed over dramatically. "Fine, if you insist."

"I do," she said and took a sip of her coffee. Lucas watched her intently, loving everything about her in that moment.

"So," Brooke said.

"So," Lucas repeated.

"Thank you,"

"For what?"

"Last night, this morning, finally letting me in, for everything Lucas," Brooke said quietly.

"It's something I should have done a long time ago." Lucas said and kissed her softly. "Now you have to go and be a good roommate."

"Fine, if you insist," Brooke said, mocking his earlier statement.

"Call me when you're finished, okay?"

Brooke nodded and kissed him softly one more time.

"I love you so much, you know that?"

Brooke nodded again.

"I love you too." she said and gave him one last kiss before heading out the door and to her car.

* * *

"Hey," Lucas said quietly and nervously.

"Hey! I didn't expect you to be here so early after the day we all had yesterday."

"Yeah," Lucas said even softer this time. "Look, Peyton, we need to talk."

Peyton's expression immediately changed from happy to see Lucas, to concerned.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Lucas didn't exactly know how to confront Peyton like this, so he stayed silent for a minute.

"What's going on with you and Brooke?" he finally asked.

"Oh," She said.

"I know she's not that upset about the kiss, she wouldn't move out over a kiss! So what is going on?"

Peyton was silent; she didn't know if she should tell him the truth or just deny everything.

"Peyton?" Lucas was getting impatient. "Please" he begged.

"I—uh. I told Brooke…" She trailed off, not knowing if she should tell him.

"Please, just tell me the truth…please." He was desperate to find out what was going on.

"I still have feelings for you, Lucas," She finally admitted.

Lucas took a step back and tried to comprehend what Peyton had just told him.

"I don't understand," he said.

"You don't understand?" Peyton asked incredulously. "You don't understand how I have feelings for you?"

"No, I get that. You can't help that. No one can." Lucas said. He was getting angrier by the word. "What I don't understand is why you told her."

"Lu—"

"No!" Lucas yelled, angry and confused. "Why would you do that? You know how insecure she is. The one thing that she is terrified of is that we are going to hurt her again. You were supposed to be here best friend! Why would you do that to her?"

Peyton didn't know how to respond; she didn't expect Lucas to be as angry as he was.

"Why!" He yelled again.

"I don't know!" Peyton finally yelled back.

Lucas looked at her in disbelief. "You were supposed to be her best friend….We weren't supposed to hurt her again," he whispered as he turned and left.

Peyton was left sitting on her bed, realizing that she just lost her two best friends and it was absolutely her fault.

* * *

"So what is really going on between you and Lucas?" Rachel asked as she watched Brooke unpack.

A small smile found its way to Brooke's face.

"Clearly you got laid last night, or this morning, or both." Rachel said, causing Brooke to turn bright red. "You did! And it must have been good if you're blushing."

Brooke smiled coyly.

"So, tell me what's going on."

"It's complicated."

"Everything with you is complicated. Does it look like I care?" Rachel said. "I just got out of the fucking hospital. I need gossip. So spill."

"He just impressed me last night."

"By…." Rachel prying for more.

"Just by talking." Brooke said simply.

"That's it? He talked to you? God you guys are boring. I thought I was going to get some dirty details, but obviously I—"

"You didn't let me finish. Last night was about our relationship." Brooke said. "This morning, on the other hand, is what you want to hear about."

"Congrats Brookie. You must be pretty amazing, I mean he turned down sex with me."

"Let's not bring that up." Brooke said, wanting to avoid any mention of their non-exclusive dating. "So what are you doing for the rest of the day?" Brooke asked. Rachel grabbed a magazine off of her nightstand. "Bevin and Theresa are coming over in a few minutes to 'take care of me'" she said, putting up air quotes.

"In other words, it's your opportunity to make them do whatever you want." Brooke added.

"I love how you already know me so well."

"Me too, actually. But I'm going to have to pass on 'wait on Rachel time'"

"Going to see Lucas?"

Brooke smiled at the mention of Lucas again.

"Yeah."

"Have fun," Rachel said with fake enthusiasm that Brooke just laughed at.

"Hey Rachel?" Brooke said from the doorway.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Yeah, well it's better than staying alone." She said rudely, but they both smiled and then Brooke left to go see Lucas and Rachel went back to her magazine.

* * *

Lucas was sitting on the picnic table at the river court; no basketball, no one to talk to. He just sat there staring ahead.

"And I was starting to forget why Brooke calls you 'Broody'" He heard Haley's voice somewhere to the side of him. He turned to see her walking up and taking a seat beside him.

"Hey buddy," Lucas said putting an arm around her. "Remind me why I'm friends with you."

"Because you love me, plain and simple."

Lucas nodded his head with a smile. "How's Nathan doing?" he asked in a more serious tone.

"He's okay. He's sleeping, Deb's taking care of him for a bit. I wanted to come find you."

"And why did you want to find me?"

"How are things going with Brooke?" Haley asked and then received a curious look from Lucas.

"Much better." Lucas finally said after realizing that Brooke's being best friends with Haley is why she knew about their problemsc.

"Yeah?"

"You sound surprised."

"I am." Haley said, which got her an offended look from Lucas. "She's been a wreck for a while. ESPECIALLY at the wedding."

"Did she tell you what happened?" Lucas asked.

Haley nodded. "How did you fix that?"

"I just told her the truth…about everything that's been going on lately."

Haley smiled softly.

"What?" Lucas asked.

"You finally let her in all the way, didn't you?"

Lucas nodded.

"That's all she ever wanted."

"Speaking of…" Lucas said motioning to the powder blue beetle pulling up to the court.

As Lucas watched Brooke get out of the car a huge smile appeared on his face. She was about to walk over to them when her phone started ringing. She put up a finger to say that she would be there in a minute and she answered her call. After watching her for a few seconds, the smile on Lucas' face disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Haley asked him, picking up on the sudden mood swing.

"You said she told you everything that's going on with her, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"So she told you what Peyton told her?"

"Yeah," Haley said quietly, almost as if she was ashamed for Peyton. "Wait! She told you that?"

"No," Lucas admitted.

"So then how do you know?"

"I went to ask Peyton what happened between them…and she told me."

"Oh," Haley said. "That explains the brooding," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Lucas said quietly. "I don't know if I should talk to her about it, though. I don't want to upset her, but at the same time I want to talk to her about it. I just wish she would have told me about it all." Lucas said, even though he knew that Brooke would never have told him about it.

"Did you learn anything last night?"

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"All she wants if for you to open up to her. Talk to her. It may be a hard thing for her to deal with, but she'll be happy you came to her about it instead of trying to deal with everything yourself."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Haley said as Brooke hung up her phone and began to walk over. "I guess that's my cue," Haley said as she stood and hugged Lucas.

"Thanks Hales."

"Anytime."

"I'll see you later."

"Definitely."

"Hey," Brooke said as she walked up and hugged Haley. "I'll see you tonight," Brooke whispered in Haley's ear. Haley just nodded in response and then walked off the court and back towards her house.

"So, boyfriend, watcha brooding about now?" Brooke said in her usual bubbly tone.

Lucas just smiled brightly.

"What?"

"I missed that."

"Missed what?"

"Your cheeriness."

"Me too," Brooke admitted as she stepped closer to Lucas and placed a small kiss on his lips.

"What was the phone call about?" Lucas asked.

"Just the family lawyer checking in to see if there was anything I needed. It's basically my parents way of checking up on me because they don't know how to have a conversation with their own daughter." Brooke said disappointedly.

"I'm sorry." Lucas said. It always pained him to see her sad.

"It's not your fault."

"I'm still sorry." He said. "You miss them, don't you?"

"You can't miss something you never had," Brooke stated, but immediately realized how badly she was lying. "Yeah, I miss them." she said quietly.

They sat there quietly for a minute, just taking in the calm sights around them.

"What are you brooding about?" Brooke asked.

"You,"

"Me?" Brooke asked, surprised.

"uh-huh, but it's a good brooding."

"Well that's good," Brooke said as she took a seat beside him and then he took his hand in hers.

"Brooke?"

"I knew something was up."

"Yeah, I guess so." Lucas admitted. "Are you ever going to tell me what really happened between you and Peyton?"

"Lucas," Brooke sighed. "It's not important."

"Yes it is."

"How do you know?" Brooke asked as more of a rhetorical question.

"Because I went to see Peyton today," Lucas said.

"You what?" Brooke said a little louder and obviously angry.

"I wanted to find out why you were so upset, so I confronted her about it…and she told me."

"And?" Brooke asked.

"And what?"

"What did you do about it. I mean how did you feel about her feelings?" Brooke asked in an angry tone, trying to hide her fears and pain.

"I didn't feel anything," Lucas said plainly. "That's not true. I was angry, so I yelled at her and left"

"Angry?" Brooke asked, slightly surprised, she didn't think had ever yelled at Peyton before. She was relieved at what he said though, because the insecurities inside of her somehow had her convinced that Lucas was going to tell her that he loved Peyton too.

"Yeah. She's supposed to be your best friend, Brooke. We were supposed to have gotten past all of this drama. I guess I just assumed that she would never do something like that again."

"Clearly we were both wrong."

"Clearly."

There was another long silence.

"I don't want to think about Peyton anymore," Said quietly, almost a whisper.

"Okay," Lucas said. Although he knew it would be hard to let go of Peyton as a friend, he never wanted to hurt Brooke again and he knew that Peyton would do that.

They stayed silent for another minute.

"What are you thinking about now?" Lucas said, expecting Brooke to talk to him more about whatever she was worried about.

"I really don't want to go to school tomorrow," confessed with a sheepish smile on her face.

Lucas just laughed a little. "Neither do I, Pretty Girl. Neither do I," He said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, planting a small kiss on her temple.

_My Cheery's back_ was all he could think, and it couldn't have made him happier.

* * *

Please review and be completely honest with me about what you thought of everything and with what you want to happen.

Also, i'm new to this site so i have a question: if i send you a reply to your review, how do i check if you sent one back?

thanks


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again for all of your reviews.

Enjoy the next chapter.

I have a couple questions that i really need everyone to answer at the bottom

thanks

* * *

The Next Morning…

"Coming!" Brooke yelled as she tried to make her way down the stairs and put on her shoes without killing herself.

"Hi!" Lucas said in an unusually happy voice when Brooke opened the door to him. "These are for you," he added as he handed her a bouquet of flowers.

"Lucas, they're beautiful," Brooke said, gave him a quick kiss and then went to put them in a vase. A minute later she reappeared at the door with her bags.

"So how is my birthday girl?" Lucas asked as they walked out to his car.

"Very flattered by the flowers and your picking me up for school."

"I was hoping that you would say that," Lucas said with a confident smile. "So how was your first night with Rachel?"

"Well we haven't killed each other yet," Brooke joked. "But seriously, it's better than I had expected."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Where is she, anyway?" Lucas asked.

"She's going to use the 'I just got out of the hospital' excuse as long as possible. But enough about Rachel. What do you have planned for me today?" Brooke asked in her usual bubbly tone as they drove to school.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it," Lucas replied nonchalantly.

"Lucas!" Brooke yelled and hit him on the arm.

"Hey! I'm trying to drive here."

"Sorry," she mumbled. "But it's my birthday!" her voice rose again. "Do you really have nothing planned?"

"Well if I told you, it would ruin the surprise part," Lucas said, still playing everything coolly.

"Lucas!" Brooke whined. "Please. It's my birthday! you have to tell me!"

"Brooke," Lucas said sternly. "Let's just go to school, you can go to cheer practice, and I'll pick you up when you are done. Okay?"

"Fine," Brooke grumbled, trying to guilt him into telling her.

"Hey!" Lucas said lifting her chin up after he parked. "Don't mope, it's your day."

She looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Besides," Lucas said pulling something out of his back pocket. "If you mope, I'm not going to want to give you your next letter," he said softly.

A huge smile reappeared on Brooke's face as she grabbed the letter and practically jumped out of the car. Lucas just laughed and followed her towards the school.

Brooke was still examining the letter when Lucas caught up with her and put an arm around her.

"I think I'm going to save it for later."

"Save what for later?" Lucas asked.

"You're letter."

"Good, I don't like it when you read them around me," Lucas said, scrunching his nose up.

"What are you embarrassed?" Brooke asked.

"Maybe," Lucas mumbled.

"Awww, broody," Brooke said as she stopped walking and turned to Lucas. "That's okay. I still love you," Brooke said as she kissed him softly.

"I love you too," Lucas said, rubbing his nose against hers. He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her towards the tables where their friends were waiting.

"This is going to be a great birthday, isn't it?" Brooke asked.

"Absolutely" Lucas whispered into her hair.

Brooke suddenly slowed down her pace. "This is going to be the worst birthday ever," Brooke grumbled.

"What? What happened?" Lucas asked concerned at her sudden change of heart.

Brooke pointed to Peyton who was sitting with Bevin and a few other girls.

"The she-devil may actually ruin my day," Brooke said, a little more disheartened than she had expected.

Lucas stopped walking and pulled Brooke around so that she was facing him.

"Don't let her ruin your day, okay?" He tried to comfort her.

"it's just—"

"Don't be bitter. It's just going to hurt your more. Just be…indifferent" Lucas suggested, trying to avoid some sort of cat fight between the two former best friends.

"Easier said than done," Brooke told him.

"I know, but let's just try, okay?"

Brooke nodded and they continued to walk past Peyton and into the school together.

* * *

Fourth period…

Brooke sat, slumped in her usual seat. A painfully boring English class was not how she wanted her birthday to be spent. Usually English was one of her favorite classes; not necessarily for the course, but because most of her friends were in it. Lucas, Haley, Nathan, Rachel, Skillz, Bevin, and Peyton had all ended up in this class with her, which usually made it the most eventful, but due to Brooke's non-stop talking they had all been banned from sitting next to each other.

Lucas was sitting in the front row, clearly interested in whatever book they were reading this week. Rachel was next to Brooke; (they hadn't been friends so they could still sit next to each other) she said that as boring as school was, being at home alone was worse so she decided to make an appearance as a birthday present to Brooke. Haley was taking her perfect notes, Nathan was probably trying to sleep, Skillz was making a paper airplane, Bevin was actually paying attention, and Peyton was staring off into the distance. Boring class.

So Brooke watched as the clock let the minutes tick by at an impossibly slow pace as she daydreamed about what Lucas had in store for her that night. _Lucas! _ A light bulb went off in her head. Brooke made a discrete move to retrieve something from her bag.

Brooke carefully opened the letter, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before reopening them to read it.

"Miss Davis?" Mr. Taylor called to Brooke's attention.

Mr. Taylor was one of the most loved teacher's in the school. He was fairly young, easy to get along with, and occasionally funny. He was also one of the most understanding teachers in the school; he knew that his students weren't always interested and that he would have to make the class relevant for them to care. Today was different though. They had heard that something was going on with him and that since his first period class got a little out of hand he's been in a bad mood, and when he wants to, he can be a just as harsh as the rest of the teachers.

"Miss Davis?" Mr. Taylor said again, this time actually getting Brooke's attention. She had barely finished the first line before she realized what was going because as Rachel nudged her to get her attention too.

"Yes?" she asked innocently.

"What are you reading?"

"Nothing," Brooke said, dropping the letter onto her desk with her sad excuse for class notes.

"So that nothing wouldn't be something that would send you to Turner's office, right?"

"Exactly," Brooke said, trying to play along and hopefully lighten his mood.

It didn't work.

"Mr. Taylor," Rachel cut in. "With all due respect," she almost choked on the words that held no meaning to her. "it's her 18th birthday. Can you cut her some slack?"

"Well happy birthday, Brooke," He said walking up to her desk and picking up the letter which Brooke quickly tried to grab back but failed. "What do we have here?"

"Wha-Lucas!" She yelled to him.

"What?" he said, giving her a 'what do you want me to do?' look.

"It's your letter!" Brooke yelled again, causing Lucas to practically jump out of his seat.

"Um, Mr. Taylor," Lucas said nervously. "I would really appreciate it if you didn't read that."

"And why not?"

"It's uh, personal. Very personal." Lucas said in a not so calm voice; he was desperate to get the letter back.  
"Wait," Rachel cut in. "Are we talking 'Brooke's the one' personal, or 'go Brooke yourself' personal. Cause there is a big difference."

"Rachel!" Brooke tried to scream in a sort of whisper. "That is not helping!"

There was an awkward moment of silence as those who knew Brooke knew exactly what was going on, and those who didn't were more than confused.

"Well," Nathan said, suddenly interested in what was going on during a class. "Which one is it, Davis?"

"I don't know!" Brooke complained, still freaking out that her teacher was holding something so personal. "I haven't read it yet."

"Luke?" Nathan asked.

"Well I can't say now," Lucas said in a 'duh' tone. "The whole point of the letter is for her to read it and be completely surprised at what it's about."

"God, you're cheesy," Haley said.

"Okay," Brooke was now a little angry at the whole situation. "Coming from the girl that got married in high school, y—"

"Enough!" Mr. Taylor finally cut in. He dropped the letter on the table. "I don't know what is going on here, just be sure to keep it out of my class next time, alright?"

Brooke nodded as both she and Lucas took their seats again.

"Good," Mr. Taylor said, resuming his position at the head of the class. "Now lets try to get by with out anymore interr—"he was interrupted by the bell, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and head for the door.

Brooke practically ran out of the room with Lucas close behind her.

* * *

"Okay, that was mortifying," Brooke said to Lucas, Nathan, and Haley as they sat down outside for lunch.

"Could've been worse, besides, that class needed something interesting to happen," Rachel said as she sat down with Bevin and Skillz at the table.

"How could that have been worse?" Brooke asked.

"He could have read the letter out loud." Lucas said. "Every time he looked down at it, I had this horrible vision that he was going to read it to the class just to teach us a lesson or something."

"You have a twisted mind, dogg.," Skillz said.

"I do not!" Lucas fought back playfully as they joked around for the rest of the lunch period.

* * *

After practice…

Brooke was walking out of the gym with Rachel and Bevin, laughing about something that Lucas couldn't quiet hear yet. Rachel and Bevin told Brooke that they were going to some party, so they headed towards Rachel in a different direction.

When they left her, Brooke finally looked out in front of her to see Lucas waiting. She could help but to notice how handsome he looked as he leaned on the passenger side of the car, waiting for Brooke. He had just gotten his haircut, presumably for tonight, and it was at the perfect short length that Brooke loved. He was wearing black dress pants and a blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked comfortable, confident, and suave.

"Hey there, birthday girl," He said coolly as Brooke approached him.

"Hey there, boyfriend," Brooke said as she went up and gave him a kiss. She began to pull away, but Lucas put his hands on her waist and pulled her in for another even deeper kiss.

"Well, well," Brooke said. "You sure are confident tonight,"

Lucas smiled slyly as he opened the car door for Brooke and then made his way to the other side to get in himself.

"So are you going to tell me what our plans are yet?" Brooke asked as they pulled away from the school.

"Nope," Lucas said. "But first I'm taking you home so that you can change."

"But if I don't know what we are doing, I don't know what to change into," Brooke said, almost pleading with him to tell her what he had planned.

"Dressy, but fun." Lucas answered, not giving away any details.

"I hate you, you know that?"

"Yeah," Lucas laughed a little. "I love you too." He said turning and giving her a sweet smile that she couldn't resist. "How was cheer practice?" Lucas said, changing the subject away from his plans.

"It was good," Brooke said unconvincingly. "But she who shall not be named was giving me evil stares the whole time."  
"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too." Brooke said. "Whatever," she desperately didn't want to think about Peyton. "I missed you though."

"I missed you too," Lucas said.

"How are you doing with that anyway?" Brooke asked, not knowing if it was a subject that she should bring up or not.

"It's hard being away from the game like that." Lucas said, surprising Brooke with how comfortable he was with talking about it. "I mean I can still shoot around at the rivercourt, but I've gotten so attached to the team, and the game, and the way it feels to play in that gym. It's just hard to….you know." Lucas said, not knowing how to continue.

Brooke just nodded, not knowing what to say that could help.

* * *

"Alright, Cherry," Lucas said as they pulled up to Rachel and now Brooke's house. "Let's get you ready."

"Lucas!!!" Brooke called from her room a while later. Lucas was waiting downstairs.

"What's wrong?" he called back.

"I don't know what to wear!"

"Well come down here and show me, and I'll tell you what I think."

"Fiiiine" Brooke gave in and made her way downstairs.

"Wow," was all Lucas could say when he saw Brooke in front of him.

"How do I look?" Brooke said as she spun around in her dress; it was short and fun, but still fairly dressy and her hair was perfectly done and flowing over her shoulders.

"You look perfect," Lucas managed to say.

"Thank you," Brooke said giving him a quick kiss. "So are you finally going to tell me where we are going?"

"I'm afraid not," Lucas said as he held up a blind fold.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope," Lucas said as he turned Brooke around and tied the blindfold on and then led her out to the car.

* * *

"Okay, time to get out." Lucas said as he put the car in par outside of Tric.

"I would love to, Luke, but if you didn't realize, you blindfolded me!"

"Okay, okay," Lucas said as he got out and went around the car to help Lucas up. "I'm gonna have to pick you up, Brooke."

"What?!"

"I'm serious, it's too hard for me to direct you in."

"Fiine," Brooke gave in again, but only because she was getting more curious about what he had planned.

"Let's go, pretty girl," Lucas said he picked Brooke up, causing her to squeal.

Lucas carried Brooke up the stairs to Tric.

"Why is it so quiet?" Brooke whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Lucas whispered back.

"I don't know," Brooke said in a normal voice. "But really, why is it so quiet? Is this the part where you kill me?"

Lucas laughed as he set her down on her feet again. "No, no it's not."

"Surprise," Lucas whispered softly and mischievously as he untied and removed the blindfold."Surprise!!!" everyone yelled as Brooke opened her eyes to see a complete party with everyone Brooke knew.

"Oh!" Brooke said jumping back and straight into Lucas. "Oh my god," she said as she realized what was going on. She turned to Lucas and threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she said into his chest.

"Anything for you," he said and kissed her forehead.

"Hey Bitch," Rachel called as she, Bevin, and a few other cheerleaders made their way over.

"Did you all know about this?" Brooke asked as she hugged them all.

"Oh yeah," Bevin said. "But Lucas made us promise not to tell."

"Yeah," Brooke said, looking over at Lucas who was now at the bar with Skillz and Mouth. "He did good," she said more to herself than to everyone around her.

Brooke made her rounds, talking to basically everyone in the school because they all showed up for Brooke's party. Eventually she, Lucas, Nathan, and Haley were all sitting at a table. The party was still going strong; music was still blasting, drinks were somehow flowing because someone snuck in alcohol, and everybody seemed to be having a genuinely good time even if it was a Monday night.

"You were so clueless," Nathan said, still making fun of Brooke.

"I know," Brooke quietly admitted with a smile on her face.

"How long were you planning this for, anyway?" She asked Lucas.

"Since the rehearsal dinner," Lucas said as if it was no big deal.

"Thank you," Brooke mouthed to him. Lucas just smiled, seeing Brooke happy could always make him smile. They were caught in a gaze that seemed to last forever; they just sat there staring into each other's eyes until Haley brought them out of it.

"Guys? Helloooo?" she said, waving her arms trying to get their attentions.

"Yeah?" Lucas said, barely taking his eyes off of Brooke.

"As much as I love spending the whole night celebrating you, Brooke, we're going to head home."

They all said their goodbyes and left Brooke and Lucas alone.

"You wanna get out of here too?" Lucas asked.

Brooke nodded.

* * *

They were in his car on their way to the rivercourt, sitting silently together for most of the ride.

"So what did you think of the party?" Lucas asked.

"I loved it. Thank you, Luke," Brooke said sincerely.

"But…" Lucas continued.

"But what?"

"You sounded like you were going to say but something."

"It's just," Brooke started, but was hesitant to continue. "I was always supposed to spend my 18th birthday having the night of my life with Peyton." Brooke said quietly.

"Oh," Lucas said, not knowing how to help her.

"And please don't say you're sorry. Just change the subject, take me somewhere else," Brooke said.

"Well I had planned for us to spend some time at the beach, but someone's throwing a party so it's kind of loud and crowded, so that won't work. I guess it's up to you now. Where do you want to go?"

"I don't really know anymore."

Lucas looked at her, trying to read the expression on her face.

"It was an amazing night, Luke, but can you just take me back to Rachel's?" Brooke asked.

"Of course."

* * *

"Look's like Rachel has some guests," Lucas said as they pulled up to Rachel's house and noticed an unfamiliar car and two people standing on the porch.

Brooke sat up quickly and squinted to see who the people were.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Um—"

"It's my parents!" Brooke said, almost disappointed and frustrated as she got out of the car with Lucas close behind.

"What are you doing here?!" Brooke yelled to her parents.

Brooke's mother looked a little annoyed at being in Tree Hill but her father looked surprisingly happy to see her.

"It's your birthday, sweetie," Brooke's father said.

"I'm aware, that doesn't answer my question, though." Brooke said even more upset. Lucas was just standing nervously behind Brooke, not knowing what to do.

"We're going to Paris for two weeks; we want you to come with us. Consider it our birthday present to you," her father said.

"You two are unbelievable, you know that?" Brooke was dangerously close to yelling at them. "I have school and a life here!"

"Why don't we talk about this is in your new house," her mother finally said spitefully. "Aren't you going to invite us in or introduce us to your friend?" she said pointing to Lucas.

"Mom, Dad, this is Lucas," she said, pulling Lucas from behind her to meet her parents.

"Richard Davis," her father said, holding out his hand which Lucas shook.

" Victoria," Her mother said coldly, not offering to shake his hand.

"I'll explain everything else inside," Brooke said tiredly as she opened the door and led Lucas and her parents in.

* * *

"Brookie!" Rachel screamed from upstairs, still sounding a little drunk.

Brooke's parents stood confused while Lucas just put his face in his hands, trying to wrap his head around when the night got so complicated.

"Listen, roomie." Rachel said coming down the stairs. "We need to talk about those pregnancy pamph….lets" Rachel added as she turned the corner and saw the people standing in front of her which quickly sobered her up.

"Oh shit," Brooke muttered under her breath.

* * *

Couple questions for what you want in the next chapter:

Is brooke pregnant (remember she promised lucas she wasnt)?

Is haley pregant?

Both? Neither?

What do you want to happen next?

thanks again


	5. Author's Note: VERY IMPORTANT

Hey everyone!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your reviews. As helpful as they have been, I now have a slight problem; it seems as though everyone is divided. Half say that they want Brooke to be pregnant, while the other half say they don't want her to be. I don't know what to do. I want to have an update posted tomorrow, but I don't know what to write. Please keep telling me what you would like to happen with this storyline (as well as any other suggestions) so that I can make a decision as soon as possible.

Thanks again,

Allie


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it took so long, but here it is. I'll have another long update tomorrow.

Thank you so much for all of the reviews. I appreciate every single one of them.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh shit," Brooke muttered again as she looked around the room. Lucas was more than confused, her father was shocked beyond belief, her mother was angry, and Rachel was mouthing 'I'm sorry' as she backed out of the room and went back upstairs.

"Brooke," Richard Davis finally exhaled.

Brooke didn't know what to say; how do you explain yourself in a situation like that?  
"Brooke," this time it was Lucas.

When Brooke finally looked at Lucas again her brain finally kicked into gear.

"Lucas," she whispered. Brooke took his hand and let him to sit down on the couch.

"Did you lie t—," Lucas couldn't even finish his sentence; his mind was racing.

"Lucas, listen to me," Brooke said strongly as she sat down beside him on the edge of the couch. "I didn't lie, okay?"

Lucas still didn't understand. Brooke's parents were standing in the doorway watching Brooke try to explain herself; while her mother was fuming at this point, her father watched her curiously.

"Lucas," Brooke said quietly. "While you were away, I thought I—I took a test, but it was negative, so after Nathan and Haley's wedding, I told you the truth. The test you found wasn't mine. It was Haley's, and knowing her, that's what the pamphlets and stuff was for."

Lucas sat there unable to figure out what to say, so Brooke continued.

"I didn't lie to you," she said and then took a long pause. She took a deep breath and continued. "But I'm still really late, so I don't really know what to think anymore," she confessed.

Lucas sat there silently for another moment. He didn't know how to react.

"Are you okay?" Lucas finally managed to choke out. He couldn't think of anything more to say.

Brooke nodded softly, understanding that he was still processing everything that was going on. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but everything was going to well lately, I just did want to deal with it. I just wanted to spend today with you and then deal with it."

"How the hell did you let this happen, Brooke," Her mother spoke up from behind her. Her voice was seething with anger.

"I think that's a pretty obvious," Brooke shot back as she stood up again.

"Brooke," her father whispered as he tried to stop a fight between the two.

"You're coming back to California," Her mother said sternly. "You've been too irresponsible here. You're coming back with us immediately."

"Not gonna happen," Brooke said.

"You think we're going to leave you here and let you ruin your life?" her mother was still yelling at her.

"First of all," Brooke started yelling again too. "If you think I would want to live with you two again you are sorely mistaken. And second, you can't force me to anymore. I'm 18 now, you don't have anymore control over me." The tears had started to form and run down Brooke's face.

"What? So you're going to raise a kid at 18? Go ahead. See how far you get, but don't come crawling back to us when you realize how badly you screwed up." Her mother calmly but filled with hate.

"You know what, _mother_," Brooke emphasized the last word. "Go run along to your vacation in Paris, and then head back to California, and then why don't you forget that you ever came her because I don't need you anymore." Brooke said and then ran out of the room and out of the house.

Lucas ran after her and found her sitting on the steps of the porch, sobbing heavily.

"Brooke," Lucas said softly. In the past two minutes he had completely forgotten about how Brooke had kept this all from him. He was too shocked by her mother and the sight of Brooke breaking down in front of him. "Brooke," he repeated as he knelt down on the steps in front of her. He held her hands in one of his and then used his other hand to brush away the tears from her face.

"Look at me," he pleaded.

Brooke raised her head and when she looked him in the eye she couldn't help but to cry even more.

"I'm so sorry," she managed to choke out.

"Shh," Lucas tried to comfort her. "You don't need to be sorry, okay?"

Lucas was so concerned about Brooke that he didn't even notice when Richard Davis stepped into the doorway and watched them.

"Brooke, the other night I told you that I was in this forever; I told you how much I love you. This…possibility doesn't change that, okay? I love you more than anything in the world. We can get through this, whatever happens; we can get through it together." He said strongly but soothingly and then wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest.

"Luke?" she managed to say between sobs.

"Yeah?"

Brooke was still crying heavily into his chest, but she managed to break for a moment to talk to him.

"Please just save me. Take me away from here," she whispered the last part.

"Okay." Lucas said as he stood up and helped Brooke to stand with him. This was the first time that he noticed her father watching.

Lucas helped Brooke into his car and then shut the door. When he turned around he saw her father still standing there. The look of concern on his face somehow drew Lucas into walking up to him where he stood at the bottom of the steps now.

"Is she okay?" Mr. Davis asked as Lucas approached him.

"No," Lucas answered honestly but regretted it when he saw the crushed look on the man's face.

"Is there anything I can do for her?"

"Not now," Lucas said solemnly. "But maybe early tomorrow morning if you want to see her you can. I'm taking her to my house. Just come to the side door….it's the one painted red. And sir, with all due respect, I suggest you don't bring your wife." Lucas added before turning around and heading back to the car.

Just as Lucas was pulling away from Rachel's house they could see Brooke's mother walking out to join her husband. She still had a disgusted look on her face.

* * *

They got to Lucas' house quickly so Brooke was still crying when the walked in. Luckily for them Karen was already sleeping so there was no explanation necessary. They just walked in through Lucas' door quietly and got ready to go to sleep. They were silent the whole time; neither one of them was ready to talk about what had just happened. Lucas gave Brooke pajamas to sleep in. They both got changed and got into bed. All Lucas could do at this point was hold Brooke closely as she fell asleep crawled up next to him. As she fell asleep he just kept repeating "it's going to be okay" as if he was trying to convince them instead of stating the truth.

Lucas lay awake for a while just staring at the ceiling and holding Brooke as close to him as possible.

* * *

Lucas lay awake and dressed early the next morning. He had slept more than he had expected to, but he knew that Brooke was up most of the night which explained why she was still sleeping soundly. Lucas watched the digital clock turn to 7:30 and heard someone knock on the door, almost as if they were waiting for 7:30 too.

Lucas tried not to wake Brooke up as he carefully got out of the bed and opened the door.

"Mr. Davis," Lucas said as shook hands with the man before him. Lucas had to stifle a laugh at that moment. After everything that had happened last night, a handshake seemed like an awkward formality.

"Brooke's still sleeping, bu—"

"Do you think that we can talk?" He asked quietly not to wake Brooke up.

Lucas nodded and motioned towards the chairs on the porch.

Now that they were in the morning light, Lucas got his first good look at Richard Davis, and the first thing that he saw was that he was where Brooke got her dimples from. He was lean and in shape, not like the plastic surgery Brooke's mother probably had to stay fit, but he looked like spent many hours a week with a personal trainer. Although he was dressed cleanly and fairly formally, he wasn't as arrogant as Lucas had expected, but he was just as intimidating as Lucas thought he would be.

"First off I wanted to apologize for last night."

Lucas sighed. "I don't need the apology, Brooke does."

"I know," Mr. Davis said quietly. "Her mother's been drinking again."

Lucas was caught off guard by his honesty.

"I know you don't know what to say to that, but I guess I'm just trying to say that it's never been easy with Victoria."

All Lucas could do was nod, and then there was a long and awkward silence that they both dreaded.

"You know I've heard a lot about you," Mr. Davis said.

"I'm sorry?" Lucas said a little confused.

"Brooke talked about you all the time."

Lucas was still a little confused, but flattered too.

"This summer when she came to California, I really tried to build our relationship back up. So every Friday afternoon when Victoria would go for her spa sessions, Brooke and I would spend the time together out on the boat, and you were all she would really talk about." he explained.

Lucas smiled softly and then there was an awkward silence between the two.

"What are you planning to do?" Mr. Davis said more seriously this time.

"To be honest with you, sir, I don't know. What I do know is that I'll be there for her through everything, whatever she decides to do. If she is even pregnant," Lucas said, trying hard not to choke on the last word.

"You're scared aren't you?" Mr. Davis said. "I can see it in your eyes."

Lucas nodded. Besides the fact that the last comment was a little creepy, he had a point.

"I'm going to ask you a pretty big question and I want you to answer honestly because I won't judge you no matter what your answer is." Mr. Davis said.

"Okay," Lucas said nervously.

"Do you love Brooke? And I don't mean high school love, I mean do you really love Brooke?" He asked.

Lucas just smiled. "More than anything in the world." he answered simply.

"Then take care of her," he said and was about to continue when he was cut off. "Talking about me?" Brooke voice came from the doorway.

Lucas blushed and then stood up as she walked over to them.

"Hey," Lucas breathed out.

Brooke didn't reply, she just took one last step forward and fell into his arms where he held her tightly for a moment. When Brooke pulled away, they didn't need to say anything, they both understood what the other was thinking.

"Your mom is looking for you," Brooke said. "And I don't think she's too pleased that she found me in your bed…again." She added, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Lucas chuckled, not because what she said was particularly funny, but because he knew what she was trying to do.

Lucas shook hands with Mr. Davis again before heading inside and leaving Brooke alone with her father.

* * *

"Hi," Brooke said quietly and awkwardly. She half expected him to finish off the yelling her mother had started. Instead he stood and gave her a hug, which Brooke gladly accepted.

"Do you want to sit?"

Brooke nodded.

"Listen sweetheart," her father said kindly. "You need to know that I am very disappointed in you."

"So am I," Brooke admitted. "It's not like I want any of this to be happening, besides can we just take a step back and acknowledge the fact that I might not even be pregnant."

"I know." he said. "I know….Brooke, your mother—" he couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Let's not talk about her, okay?" Brooke said, trying to stay as calm as possible at the mention of the not-so-motherly woman.

"How are you doing with all of this?" he asked.

"I'm okay. I was in denial a little, but not after last night."

"Do you know what you want to do if you are pregnant?" He asked, trying to be as supportive as possible.

Brooke stayed silent for a minute. "Did you know that Lucas was almost aborted?"

Mr. Davis shook his head no.

"Dan Scott, his father, is an ass, and he tried to make Karen have an abortion, but she wouldn't do it, so she raised Lucas to be twice the man Dan ever was….you know as scared as Lucas is at the thought of having a child at this age, he'll be there for me. I think he's more scared of the fact that history may be repeating himself."

Her father didn't know what to say; he just tried to read the expression on Brooke's face, but he couldn't.

"I'm terrified." she admitted quietly.

"You'll be okay," he said.

"You don't know that," Brooke countered.

"Yes I do," he said. "That's why I wanted to come talk to you now."

Brooke gave him a confused look.

"I know what your mother said last night, but it's not the case. As you pointed out, you are 18 now, which not only means that you can live on your own, well more on your own now, but it also means that your trust fund is officially yours. Whatever you decide to do, you'll have support from Lucas and from me, Brooke. I may not be in Tree Hill, but I'll do my best to be there for you."  
"Thanks," Brooke whispered, trying to fight back tears.

Her father took a deep breath. "Unfortunately I have to go back to the hotel now. Our flight leaves soon and you know how your mother can get."

Brooke nodded as they stood.

"Have fun in Paris," she offered.

Her father just rolled his eyes, earning a laugh from Brooke who knew that he hated her mother's vacations. Besides the fact that her father was a bit of a workaholic and hated having to leave his office, he also hated being trapped in a hotel room with Brooke's mother. Brooke had long since come to terms with the fact that her parents weren't too fond of each other, it just made her appreciate Lucas' love even more.

"I love you, kiddo," her father said as he wrapped her in another hug.

"I love you too, dad" Brooke said. "I'll miss you," she whispered.

"I'll miss you too." he said. "But I promise that as soon as I get your mother back to California, I'll come visit again, okay?"

Brooke nodded with a smile on her face.

He pulled her in for one last hug and then headed to his car. Brooke stood on the porch as she watched her father drive away.

* * *

Brooke and Lucas didn't talk much the rest of the morning. They were both in a bit of denial, so talking about their current situation wasn't something either of them wanted.

When they got to school they parted, reluctantly though. As painfully quiet as the morning had been, they felt safer if they knew the other one was with them.

They didn't see each other until fourth period English again.

Lucas was sitting in his seat in the front row talking to Nathan and Skillz about basketball. Rachel and Bevin and surprisingly Haley were all talking about something else. Peyton on the other hand watched her former group of friends as she sat quietly waiting for class to start.

Everyone was so preoccupied in their own little worlds that they didn't notice Brooke standing in the doorway of the class for a minute.

Lucas was the first to notice her. He jumped out of his seat when he realized she was there. He was going to go up to her but when he stood and really looked at her, he was a little scared by the image. Brooke was no longer wearing the cute top with matching shoes; she was wearing Lucas' 'Keith's Body Shop' sweatshirt, jeans, and flip-flops. She looked more tired and drained than she did in the morning, and her expression seemed emotionless.

When Lucas finished taking in her appearance he finally looked Brooke in the eye, and that's when she lost it. She broke down and ran straight into his arms where he held her tightly and let her cry. Neither of them cared that the whole class was watching them; nobody knew what was really going on with them at that moment anyway.

"Luke," Brooke whispered. She finally picked her head up off of his chest and leaned up so that she could whisper in his ear. "I'm not pregnant." It was barely audible but Lucas heard it loud and clear.  
"Wha-how do you know?" he asked.

"I skipped class…a

* * *

nd went to the doctor…I'm sorry I didn't…tell you," she managed to say in between sobs.

"It's okay," he reassured her as he rubbed circled on her back while still trying to hold her as close as possible. Then he pulled back for a moment and looked at her tear stained face. "Why are you crying?"

Brooke stayed silent for a moment. "I don't know," she said and then let a new set of tears begin to flow.

Lucas could only imagine the emotions that were running through her at that point. He thought that his head was spinning; it was a wonder that she had made it back to the school with everything that was going on.

Lucas pulled her back into his chest and held her even tighter this time; wrapping his arms around her in a way that made them both feel a little safer.

"What's going on here?" Mr. Taylor asked from the doorway. For the first time since Brooke walked in, the students took their eyes off of the couple and stared at the teacher; everyone except Brooke who was still sobbing into Lucas' chest.

"Is everything okay?" Mr. Taylor asked again.

No one said a word. Everyone was too stunned at the sight before them.

"Lucas, why don't you take Brooke outside, you're both excused from the class today," Mr. Taylor said, obviously concerned about the two and no longer upset about the letter incident the day before.

"Thank you," Lucas mouthed as he led Brooke out into the hallway.

* * *

There it is! I hope you liked it.

My decision with Brooke ended up being based on the fact that I think I can write a better story if she isn't pregnant.

Sorry to disappoint if you wanted it the other way.

Also, if i didnt make it clear, the reason why Lucas isnt mad about any of this is because he is still in a bit of shock. but dont worry, ill have a nice long brucas conversation about that coming soon.

please review! thanks again


	7. Chapter 7

Lucas and Brooke sat silently. They had made their way into the gym so that no one would bother them when the classes ended. They were in the last row of the bleachers leaning against the wall with stone expressions on their faces as they stared ahead; only occasionally stealing glances at the other. They were still holding hands though. Their fingers were knotted together almost as if it was keeping them from losing the other in that moment.

Lucas took a deep breath.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he finally said.

"Yeah," Brooke said quietly. "I just don't know how to."

"Why did you go alone? You know that I would have been there with you if I knew." Lucas said.

"I know. That's why I didn't tell you."

"Brooke," Lucas said with a confused and hurt look on his face. "I _wanted_ to be there with you." he said, trying to hide the slightest bit of anger in his voice.

"I know," Brooke said again realizing how much she had probably hurt Lucas by not telling him. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I just needed to know, and if you were there with me I would have broken down long before I did." Brooke admitted quietly.

There was a short silence between them.

"What exactly happened?" Lucas asked.

Brooke sighed, realizing that she had to tell him. "I was in first period, and all I could think about was whether or not my life would ever be the same. So I skipped second and third and went to see a doctor. It was 9:30 on a Tuesday morning so it didn't take long; but I couldn't come see you that soon. I went to the Rivercourt to just…brood for a while. Then believe it or not, I called my dad and told him. He was the one that told me to come see you now instead of waiting." Brooke said slowly, trying to hold back another set of sobs that were threatening to take over.

Lucas sat up and turned a little so that he was facing Brooke.

"And the reason why I didn't even tell you about the possibility is because….because clearly I wasn't being rational." Brooke admitted. "I mean I was so angry with you for not letting me in, and _I_ was keeping a potentially life changing secret from you. I just got scared, and I was in denial. I was going to tell you, trust me when I say that, but I just got scared." Brooke said quickly, almost as if she was rambling, but she wasn't; she knew exactly what she was saying, she only said it quickly because if she didn't say it all at once she wouldn't be able to get it out. "I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"It's okay. We just have to tell each other everything from now on." Lucas said as he pulled her into his arms.

Brooke nodded.

"It's all okay now." he whispered into her hair.

They stayed silent for a bit longer, until they heard the gym doors open. Nathan, Haley, and Rachel walked in.

They quietly walked up the stairs and sat in the row in front of Brooke and Lucas.

"Brooke," Rachel was the first to speak. "I'm so sorry." Rachel said guiltily and sincerely.

"It's okay." Brooke said quietly.

Rachel was surprised that Brooke was mad.

"I mean, you didn't know they were there, and if I was pregnant my parents would've had to find out eventually." Brooke said smiling a little, as if she was trying to lighten the mood for everyone else.

"Wait," Rachel said. "So you're not pregnant? When did you find out?"

"Today," Brooke said simply. Although they all had questions, they didn't want to press her for information.

There was an awkward silence.

"By the way," Rachel spoke up again. "I heard you all last night. You're mom's a bitch."

"Yeah," Brooke said, laughing softly. "I know."

"Whoaa!" Nathan finally cut in. "You're parents are here?" He asked. Nathan was the only other one (besides Peyton) who had met the infamous Davis parents.

"Nope," Brooke said, her mood had lightened considerably now that she was with her friends were there. "They left for Paris about a half an hour ago."

Everyone except Brooke and Lucas had shocked looks on their faces.

"My dad was surprisingly nice," Brooke said. "But my mom disowned me. Oh well."

Everyone managed to laugh at the way Brooke had found the fun in her horrible family situation.

"Wait a minute," Lucas said with a serious expression on his face. "Haley are you—?"

"No," Haley shook her head. "Definitely no."

"Way to kill the mood, Broody," Brooke said.

"Sorry," he slinked back and then pulled Brooke closer to himself.

"Wait, Haley you thought you were pregnant?" Nathan asked concerned.

"Yeah," Haley admitted quietly.

"You didn't tell me!?"

As Nathan and Haley got into an argument that was solved as quickly as it had started, Rachel noticed something no one else had.

She was looking around the gym for a moment when something caught her eye; Peyton. She was standing behind the door to the locker rooms, watching the 5 other teens talking. Not only was Rachel a little creeped out by the way Peyton was watching them, she was surprisingly angry at her. Maybe she was a good friend.

Rachel pulled her phone out and checked the screen. It said the time like normal, but no one else knew that. She opened it and pretended to read something.

"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked Rachel.

"Yeah," Rachel lied. "I just got a text from Bevin. I'm gonna go meet her, if that's okay." Rachel lied again.

"Go ahead. I'll see you later." Brooke said.

"Yeah," Rachel said as she got up and headed for the door where Peyton was.

---

"Okay, I know that I wanted to kill her a few weeks ago," Brooke said after Rachel left the gym. "But she's actually growing on me." Brooke said, not wanting to fully admit how good of a friend Rachel had been to her in the past few days.

"Me too, oddly," Haley said. "Not that I'm friends with her, but maybe she's not the devil after all."

"Maybe," Brooke said, laughing at Haley's unexpected comment.

"Hey guys?" Nathan said.

they all looked at him.

"Can we go to lunch? I'm starving," he complained causing everyone to laugh.

"Me too!" Lucas added as they all got up and finally left the empty gym.

---

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" Rachel tried to keep her yell to a fairly low volume as she entered the locker room so that no one would walk in.

Peyton was sitting alone on a bench.

"Is she okay?" Peyton asked in a low voice.

"Why do you care?" Rachel asked, still yelling a little.

"How can you ask me that?!" Peyton's voice was still low but her tone sounded like she was yelling. "Brooke's my best friend."

"No she's not," Rachel said, a little calmer this time. Peyton finally looked up at her. "You gave up the right to call her that when you told her that you were in love with the guy that she's in love with."

"I'm sorry," Peyton said quietly. Her face showed regret beyond belief. She had lost her best friend because she just didn't think before she spoke.

"Just stay away from, Brooke. You've hurt her enough already," Rachel said and then turned to leave.

"Why do you care so much?" Peyton said, catching Rachel before she could storm out.

"Because you're not there fore her anymore," Rachel said in a deadpan voice and then left.

She left Peyton sitting alone. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. If she cried it was because she was feeling bad for herself. And even Peyton knew that she had no right to do that. She might have lost the two most important people in her life, but it was her fault and that gave her no right to cry over it. She just sat there for a while, trying to pretend that everything she did was all a nightmare and that she could wake up and take it all back.

* * *

Okay, I know it's really short compared to the other chapters, but I wanted to post something. Sorry i didnt post last night, i went to the Knick game with some friends and by the time i got back i just collapsed in bed. it's been a long and tiring week. With that said, i hope you like this chapter and ill have another one up later today. Thanks for being so patient. please review and leave suggestions!!! 


	8. Chapter 8

"Coach?" Lucas said knocking on Whitey's door. He had been called to whitey's office before practice started that day.

"Come in," Whitey called from the other side.

Lucas entered the office to find Whitey, Nathan, Karen, Dan and even Coach K (Coach Krzyzewski – the Duke Basketball coach) were waiting for him.

"What is this, some kind of intervention?" Lucas asked in a joking way. He was clearly confused.

"Lucas why don't you sit down," Karen said.

Lucas was still confused, and starting to get a little freaked out. He reluctantly took a seat next to Nathan. "What's going on?"

"Lucas," Karen began. "Let me start by saying that everything going on here scares me, but I want you to be happy and that's why we're here." She said and then paused for a moment which scared Lucas even more. "Do you want to play basketball again?"

"Um, yeah," Lucas said as if it was obvious. "But in case you all forgot already, I do have HCM," He said, trying to lighten the mood that was scarring him.

"We know that, but we've figured out a way for you to continue playing," Karen said.

"Lucas," Coach K finally spoke up. "The reason why I'm here is to tell you that you've been accepted to Duke, and that we want you to play for us." he said calmly.

"Okay, I'm honored to me you, sir, but I still don't understand what is going on. I mean I can't play anymore."

"Yes you can," Whitey said. "If you take your meds you can play with us through the playoffs. You can only play fifteen minutes, but you can play with us."

Lucas stayed silent, but the look on his face said he was skeptical.

"I know it sucks," Nathan finally spoke up. "But it's a start."

"I don't want to play fifteen minutes for the rest of my life, Nate." Lucas said. "You should understand that. Giving up basketball was the hardest thing I've ever done, second of course to joining the team in the first place. How am I supposed to play in college if I can only play fifteen minutes now?" Lucas was not only skeptical, but because he didn't fully understand everything yet, he was frustrated and a little angry.

"That's where I come in, Lucas." Dan said.

"What do you want from me this time?" Lucas said bitterly, but Dan accepted it because he knew he deserved it.

"I just want to help you," Dan said.

"You want to help me?" Lucas asked incredulously. "I thought I failed your little test."

"Lucas, please just listen to me," Dan pleaded. Lucas stayed silent. "Because you're so young, there is a surgery that could correct the abnormalities in your heart. I want to pay for the surgery for you."

Lucas stared in utter disbelief.

"Lucas," Karen cut in again. "I know how big this is, but please think about it, okay? After the seasons over you can have the surgery if you want." Although the thought of Lucas having an open heart surgery scared her more than anything, she wanted Lucas to be happy.

"I need to uh, I need to g—" Lucas couldn't even finish his sentence, he just left the office and headed off alone.

"Is he going to be okay?" Coach K asked.

"Yeah," Nathan said. "He's just going to the river court to think for a while."

There was a short silence.

"Can I call Brooke? She could probably help him more than we can." Nathan asked.

Karen and Whitey nodded and Nathan took out his phone.

* * *

"Lucas?" Brooke asked cautiously as she approached him. Nathan told her what was going on, so she left practice right away to go find him. She knew where he would be; in his world.

Lucas was laying the in middle of the rivercourt, right at the half-court line. His arms and legs were stretched out and he had his eyes closed tightly, like he was trying to shut out everything that was going on around him.

When Lucas heard Brooke's voice, he had to try his hardest not to start crying.

Brooke laid down next to Lucas.

"Lucas?" She repeated, a little softer this time.

"I don't know what to do," said quietly with his eyes closed. He had finally managed to push back the tears that threatened to fall.

Brooke didn't know what to say to him so she just took his hand in hers and held it.

That was when Lucas opened his eyes and sat up, causing Brooke to sit up too.

"I need Keith," He said quietly. "I need him to tell me what to do."

Brooke didn't know what to say again. It broke her heart to see him so confused and upset.

"Keith would want you to be happy," she finally said. "He would want you to have the life you always wanted. This is your chance Luke. And I know it's scary, but we're all going to be here with you every step of the way."

Lucas smiled softly at her words.

"I just don't understand why he wants to help me," Lucas said.

"Dan?" Brooke asked,

Lucas nodded.

"I mean I don't know if I want him to help me."

Brooke thought for a moment.

"You know Keith would probably say the same thing," Brooke said. "But in the end he would have realized that Dan was his family and that he should trust him, give him the benefit of the doubt, because maybe he really does just want to help."

"I know, but what if there's more to it?" Lucas asked.

"Then we deal with it then, but right now, you have a chance to play basketball at Duke. Do you really want to give that up?"

Lucas shook his head no.

"Do you want to go back now?" Brooke asked.

Lucas nodded.

"Okay," Brooke said as she and Lucas stood and made their way to her car at the edge of the court.

Lucas had obviously walked.

* * *

"Brooke, wait," Lucas said as they were about to walk back into the gym.

She stopped and turned to face him.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too, Luke," Brooke said, smiling a little.

"You know that if I go back, if I play again," he said. "There's always a chance that I could—"

"I know," Brooke said.

"I just want you to know that I love you, more than anything," Lucas said.

"I know," Brooke said again and then wrapped him in a hug.

They stood for a minute holding each other.

"Come on," Brooke said encouragingly. "Let's go in."

Lucas nodded and they made their way in.

* * *

When they entered the gym, Lucas was still holding Brooke's hand tightly, almost as if he would run away if they weren't holding onto each other.

As they walked into the gym, all eyes were on them. Some people knew what was going on, but most people were just surprised to see Lucas back in the gym.

Lucas and Brooke slowly walked up to Whitey and Coach K. They were standing on the sidelines watching the team practicing.

There was a silence when they walked up until Lucas finally broke it.

"So when do I start again?" Lucas asked and then a huge smile broke out on his face.

"My boy's back!" Skillz yelled as he ran up and messed around with Lucas.

"Hey Luke!" Nathan called from the foul line. "Looks like we're heading to college together."

"Yeah," Lucas said with a content smile on his face. "Looks like it." Neither of them saw Dan standing off to the side, smiling at them.

He brought Brooke's hand up to his face and kissed it softly, and then he let her go. Instead of running over to the cheerleaders like he had expected, Brooke instead walked over and sat with his mom in the bleachers.

"Yo Luke!" Skillz called.

Lucas turned just in time to catch a ball that was passed to him. He looked at the ball in his hands for a moment, and looked at the basket. He took as shot and easily sunk a very long 3 pointer.

"Nice shot," he heard Whitey and Coach K mumble from behind him.

* * *

"Thank you, Brooke," Karen said to Brooke after they watched Lucas shooting around for a while.

"For what?" Brooke asked.

"You know two things make my son happy," Karen said turning to Brooke. "Basketball…and you."

Brooke smiled and blushed a little.

"He make's me happy too," Brooke said very quietly, but Karen heard her and smiled too.

* * *

An hour and a half later, Brooke and Lucas were walking out of the gym hand in hand.

"It's been a long day," Brooke said. She still couldn't believe how much had happened.

"Yeah," Lucas said, he too thinking about all of the events that took place today. "It's been a long few days." he corrected.

"I know it's only Tuesday, but I really want this week to end," she complained.

Lucas laughed a little.

"Me too, Pretty Girl, me too," Lucas said as he wrapped his arm around Brooke and pulled her closer.

They were walking out to the parking lot in a comfortable silence. The rest of the athletes were getting out of practice too, so there were other people around, but to Brooke and Lucas, they were all alone in their own little world.

"Luke?" Brooke said as they approached her car.

"Yeah?"

"What would we have done if I was pregnant?" She asked nervously.

Lucas gave her a confused look.

"What would we have done?" she asked.

"I don't know," Lucas said causing Brooke to look disappointed even though she tried to hide it. "but we would have gotten through it together," Lucas said honestly.

"But we're in high school!"

"I know," Lucas said. "But that doesn't change the fact that I would be their for you and our child no matter what."

Brooke finally settled with the fact that Lucas would have been there for her.

Lucas pulled her closer to him.

"You wanna know something though?"

"What?" Brooke asked.

"One day we're going to have a family together," Lucas said with a look in his eye that said he was picturing a life together for them.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Lucas said confidently.

He took one last step and closed the gap between them. He kissed her softly at first, but Brooke deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist.

They finally broke apart when they heard someone whistling at them. They looked around to find Nathan smirking as he and Haley were watching them from afar as they made their way to their car.

Lucas took a disappointed deep breath and then opened Brooke's car door for her.

She gave him one last soft kiss on the lips.

"Good night, Lucas," She said in a way that took Lucas' breath away as he gazed into her eyes.

"Good night, Pretty Girl," he said and then she got in her car and drove home.

Lucas stood for a minute, watching her car drive away before he made his way to his and then drove home.

* * *

I hope you liked it! ill try to have another update up soon (either tonight or tomorrow evening).

Please leave reviews and try to answer this question:

What do you want brooke and lucas to do about college? (go together, brooke go to NY for her fashion, etc)

Any other suggestions?

thanks


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update. This week has been extremely busy for me. The amount of school work I've had lately is sickening. Next week isn't going to be much better _plus_ the basketball season starts on Monday, so I have practice for two hours after school everyday. I'll try to get as many updates in as possible, but I can't promise anything. Thank you so much for all of the reviews you have posted. I love everyone of them. Please keep reviewing. Thanks for being so patient and enjoy!

* * *

Saturday morning….

Lucas groaned and rolled over as he placed a pillow on his head.

That didn't stop whoever was knocking on his door.

"Who is it?" he yelled/groaned/complained.

"It's me," Brooke said from the other side.

"It's open," Lucas said as he pulled the covers higher over his body.

"Hey, Broody," Brooke said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you still sleeping?"

"Well someone kept me up late last night," he said as he took the pillow off of his head and turned so that he was lying on his back, then he finally opened eyes.

"Well I had to reward you for your first game back," Brooke said. "I must say, even I was impressed."

"Well thank you," he said as he pulled her down closer to him. "But let's go back to sleep now."

"Lucas!" Brooke tried to get out of his strong hold on her. "It's 11:30 already,"

"Fiiiine," Lucas gave in. Brooke tried to sit up, but Lucas pulled her back down onto the bed and the pulled her as close to him as possible.

"I won't go back to sleep, but let's just lay here for a while."

As much as Brooke wanted to resist (there were more important things she had to deal with), she couldn't. As soon as Lucas cuddled up next to her, all will power not to lay with him disappeared.

"Lucas!" Dan called from outside the door. He quickly knocked twice and then walked in, causing Brooke to jump out of the bed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucas mumbled into the pillow.

"Brooke," Dan said clearly surprised and a little amused. "Hi,"

"Hi," Brooke said as she turned deep red. "I uh, I just got here, like two minutes ago," Brooke started speaking very quickly and her voice was getting higher by the word. "I didn't stay her last night, cause I know Karen doesn't like that, and I wouldn't d—"

"Brooke!" Lucas cut her off, laughing at her a little.

"Yeah?" she said, turning back to Lucas who was now getting out of bed.

"Relax, you're rambling."

"Right." Brooke breathed out. "Sorry. I should go," She said.

"Sorry I interrupted," Dan laughed a little.

"Brooke, please don't go," Lucas begged. Reluctantly, she stayed; no one would want to be around if Dan and Lucas were going to fight, but Lucas wanted her there so she didn't leave.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked Dan.

"Your mother asked me to come and wake you up," Dan said.

"She asked _you_ to help her?" Lucas asked rudely and skeptically.

"Luke," Brooke half whispered half yelled, trying to get him to stop being so rude.

"No, it's okay," Dan said guiltily. "Look, I know that you don't believe that I want to help, but I do….I'm trying to help." Dan said being sincere. "I'll let myself out," he said as he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Lucas sat back down on his bed.

"You okay?" Brooke asked as she sat down next to him.

"Do you think he really wants to help, or do you think that something's going on?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know," Brooke said honestly. "I want to believe that he really just wants to change. If I were you, I'd give him a chance…just don't trust _everything_ he does."

Lucas thought for a moment. "Thanks," he whispered.

"That's what I'm here for, right?" Brooke said playfully.

"I could think of a few other things," Lucas replied slyly.

"Oh, I'm sure you could," Brooke smirked.

Lucas grabbed Brooke and pulled her onto his lap.

He was about to say something when someone knocked on his side door.

"Again?" Lucas said to Brooke. "Really? did I do something in a past life?"

Brooke just laughed and got off of him, much to his dismay.

Lucas stood up and opened the door; the smile on his face immediately disappearing.

"I don't want to talk," Lucas said, not giving the person a chance to say anything.

"Please," She begged.

Lucas sighed and swung open the door.

Brooke sat on his bed staring at Peyton waiting at the door. Peyton just stared back.

"Anything you want to say?" Lucas asked. He didn't sound bitter though, he sounded tired and disappointed.

"I guess I should go," Peyton said quietly before turned and walking away from the house.

Lucas closed the door and then fell back and laid on his bed, holding his face in his hands.

"Do you miss her?" Brooke asked shyly from the end of the bed.

Lucas took a deep breath and then took his hands off of his face so that he could see Brooke.

"I miss my friend," he admitted. "I miss the person I used to talk about music with, or just kinda…I don't know anymore. I miss my friend, but I don't see my friend when I look at her anymore. I just get angry." Lucas said. "Do you miss her?" He asked after a long silence.

"I miss her too," Brooke said in almost a whisper. "But I'm not angry anymore," she said, sure of the words that she was saying. "It just hurts." she said, barely audible, but Lucas heard her. "I miss my best friend, but I can't look at her the same way anymore, I want to, but I don't know if I can."

It looked like her heart was breaking as she said the words, and Lucas' couldn't help but hurt for her.  
"Come here," he whispered and stretched his arms out for her.

She crawled back into bed and into Lucas arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair.

"Me too."

They laid in a silence for a while, both trying to figure out when their lives got so complicated.

"What did you want to talk about?" Lucas asked.

"I never said that I wanted to talk," Brooke countered.

"You didn't have to," Lucas said.

Brooke sighed. Part of her was jumping for joy at the fact that he finally knew her the way she always wanted, but the other part was scared to really say what was bothering her.

"What are we going to do after high school?" Brooke asked, taking the plunge.

"Go to college," Lucas joked.

"I'm being serious," Brooke said. When Lucas heard the sadness in her voice, he was immediately concerned.

Lucas thought for a minute. He knew what he wanted and he knew what she was afraid of. He just wasn't sure of what to say because he didn't want to say the wrong thing, so he settled on what he knew he wanted.

"We're going to live happily ever after," He said confidently.

"How do you know that?" Brooke asked, more upset than skeptically. Something was still bothering that she wasn't telling Lucas.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "What's going on?" he asked again.

"What if we don't end up together?" Brooke asked and then quickly continued. "What if we don't go to college together and then we can't make this work because we've been separated for too long?"

"Why do you think that's going to happen?" Lucas asked.

"Cause we may not end up going to college together," Brooke said quietly, as if she as ashamed.

Lucas look surprised, confused and hurt all at the same time.

"I don't know if I got into Duke," Brooke continued. "I don't know if I'm going to get in."

"Why do you say that?" Lucas asked, trying to stay optimistic.

"I love you for trying to flatter me," Brooke said. "But we both know my grades suck. It would be a miracle if got in,"

"Don't say that," Lucas pleaded. "And even if you don't go to Duke…I _promise_ that we won't drift apart. I love you more than anything, and I told you Brooke, I'm never letting you go again."

Brooke smiled softly at his words. Just as it looked like she was going to accept his answers, another worried look came onto her face.

"There's something I want to show you," she said quietly. She got up and went to her bag and pulled something out. She handed him the envelope and sat back down on the bed. This time she sat on the edge instead of curling up next to him again.

"What is this?" Lucas asked of the opened envelope with Brooke's name on it.

Brooke didn't answer.

Lucas carefully opened it up and took out the letter inside. _Victoria__'s Secret wants Brooke to work for them_.

"Brooke!" Lucas said as he read the letter. "This is amazing!"

Brooke didn't answer again.

"What's wrong?" he asked for what felt like the billionth time that day.

"It's for this summer," she said. "But it's in New York."

"So?" Lucas asked. "Brooke, this is an amazing opportunity, you shouldn't let this pass you by."

"But what about us?"

"What about us?" Lucas countered.

Brooke stayed silent, afraid to say what she really felt.

"You think we won't last a summer? Or that we won't last through college if we're not together?" Lucas laughed a little, surprising Brooke. "Would you please just trust me? Trust me when I say that we're only going to get stronger once we leave high school." Lucas said the very last part with conviction.

"How are you so sure?" Brooke asked.

Lucas thought for a moment and then smiled.

"I just am," he said simply.

"I don't want to leave you," Brooke whispered as she crawled back next to Lucas.

"You're not leaving me," Lucas said. "You're chasing your dreams. That's what we're all doing after high school. Only we're going to go after them together."

Brooke was more than content with his answers, so she resigned to lay with him in bed for a few more hours. Though Lucas was sure enough for the both of them, Brooke still couldn't help but feel scared that after everything, she may lose him _after_ high school.

* * *

Later that day, Brooke sat alone in her car outside a familiar house. Lucas and Nathan were at the Rivercourt for some extra practices, Haley was working at the café, and Rachel was doing something that she didn't even want to imagine.

She was alone. Alone with her thoughts. Alone so that she could do something she's been waiting to do for what feels like forever.

She slowly got out of her car and made her way up the walkway and to the front door, becoming more confident with each step. When she reached the door she hesitated before knocking. She brought her hand back down to her side and sighed. It wasn't that she was backing out of her plan, it was that she realized that this was the first time in almost ten years that she had to knock on this door. She took a deep reassuring breath, rang the doorbell, and then counted the seconds as she waited for an answer.

The door opened and Brooke jumped a little from nervousness. She picked her head up expecting to see Peyton at the door, but she didn't. Instead she saw an unfamiliar man standing in front of her.

"Um," Brooke began, still a little confused at who the man in front of her was. "I'm looking for Peyton."

The man swung the door open to reveal Peyton standing behind him.

"Hi," Peyton said, pleasantly surprised to see Brooke at her doorstep not looking as angry as usual.

"Can I talk to you?" Brooke asked quietly.

"Brooke," Peyton said, relieved that Brooke hasn't yelled yet. "This is my brother, Derek." (the real one)

"I'm sorry, what?" Brooke asked.

"It's a long story, but anything you want to talk about you can say in front of him."

"Peyton I can go if y—"Derek began.

"No, it's okay." Peyton reassured him. "What do you want to talk about Brooke?" Peyton asked sounding bitterer than she had wanted to.

Brooke hesitated to speak openly in front of him. "Okay," she said and took a deep breath. "I need to know why…I need to know why you told me." Brooke said quietly but confidently.

Peyton swallowed hard at the question. _Why_.

Peyton wasn't answering so Brooke continued. "I need to know why you couldn't just bury it. Why did you have to tell me? You know what it did to me; you know how scared I've been of that happening." Brooke was trying to hold in as much of her emotions as possible, but with each word it got harder.

"I…" Peyton said, not being able to finish the sentence.

"You knew that I would end things with him if I found out that you were still in love with him. Did you want me to break up with him? Is that why you told me?"

"But you didn't break up with him," Peyton countered, not knowing what else to say.

"You're right, I didn't." Brooke said. "But when I went to his house that night, that's what I was going to do. I was going to leave the love of my life because of what you had told me."

Peyton stood silently and guiltily; she had never heard Brooke refer to Lucas as the love of her life.

"What stopped you?" Peyton asked.

"It doesn't matter," Brooke said lying a little, but she didn't want to tell Peyton what had happened; she wanted that night to stay with her and Lucas.

"Please," she begged at this point, trying to hold back tears. "I need to know why."

"…" Peyton struggled to form the words. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Brooke asked incredulously, feeling the anger begin to boil inside of her.

"I don't know," Peyton said again, this time even more ashamed.

"Unbelievable," Brooke muttered. "Then this is it," Brooke said regaining her composure. "We're done. 100. I won't let you hurt me anymore. You're not my best friend anymore." Brooke said, and with that she turned and headed right back to her car.

Peyton and Derek stood silently for a minute until they saw Brooke's car disappear around the corner.

"What was that about?" Derek asked.

"It's a long story."

* * *

Hi again. If you think I made Brooke seem like worse friend here for cutting Peyton off, that's not what I intended to do. What I meant was to show that Brooke can't see Peyton as her best friend anymore and that she just needed to know why she did something that would end their friendship. When Peyton didn't known why she did something that big, Brooke gave up on her.

Please review! Thanks


	10. AN i know, another one, sorry

Okay, so here's the deal:

I'm about to die with the workload I have. My school has a reputation for being a "pressure cooker" and having obscene amounts of work. I never agreed...until these past few weeks. It's painful and unrelenting. I'm actually counting down the days until Thanksgiving break. (expect a lot of updates then because I have a 5 day weekend). Anyway, if I don't get back to my history paper in the next few seconds, I may never do it (and it's due tomorrow, so that would be bad). Oh, and on top of all of the papers and tests and lab reports I have, basketball practice started today and that's two hours after school everyday. Enough of my ranting, the reason why I'm putting the note in is to explain the lack of updates. Please keep reviewing though, the more reviews I get, the more I want to update, and I really love the reviews.

Again, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates, I hope you understand. I'll try to have another one up in the next few days (maybe tomorrow if I can get some work done in school during my frees)

--Allie

PS- i know i haven't updated "So Here We Are" in a while, but i'm slowly but steadily working on an update for that story. Also, i have another story i'm working on, it'll be called "Tournament of Hearts" so look out for that sometime soon.

PPS- Do you want to see more of brooke's dad? Do you want/think something will happen with Lucas' heart condition? Any thoughts about the Breyton and Brachel friendships?

Please answer the questions, it really helps me write.

Thanks again


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry it took so long to update, and thank you for being so patient. The good news is that i dont have that much work this week, so i should get a few updates in. But i would really appreciate suggestions for what to do next. Please enjoy and review!! PS- sorry if there are some errors in this chapter, i wanted to update as soon as possible so i didnt proof read.

* * *

Once she was around the corner, Brooke had to pull over. She tried to catch her shaky breath and stop her hands from shaking. The phone's high pitched ring shooting through the small car didn't help. 

"Hello?" she barely croaked out into the phone.

"Brooke, sweetie, are you okay?" the man's voice was loud and crisp. Brooke had to pull the phone away from her ear to register the voice.

"Dad?" she asked as she turned down the earpiece and brought the phone back to her ear.

"Yeah, it's me." he said. "Where are you, I'm in Tree Hill."

"What!" Brooke screamed. "I thought you were in Paris. What are you doing here?"  
"Well I came to see you."

"Where are you?" Brooke asked, suddenly happier and forgetting about her latest confrontation with Peyton.

"I'm outside Rachel's house."

"Okay," Brooke said as she started the car again. "I'll be there in five minutes."

* * *

Brooke was surprised at how fast she drove to go see her dad. She had never, in as long as she could remember, been excited to see one of her parents. After they had decided not to spend Christmas with her when she was 13, she had tried not to expect anything from them. But she failed, and so she was disappointed every time se saw them. When she was 15 she gave up on them and started partying instead. In fact, she had learned to dread when they came home because it would mean that she would have to pretend to be happy that they were here. She would have to pretend that he life wasn't slowly getting worse and most of all she would have to pretend that she didn't hear them fighting when they thought she was sleeping.

But it was different now. Brooke was actually excited to see her father because he was putting out a _real_ effort to connect with her again.

As the thoughts continued to race through her mind she pulled up to Rachel's house and saw her father waiting on the front porch.

"Hey!" she greeted him cheerfully and he pulled her into a hug. "What are you doing out here, it's chilly. Why not go inside?" she asked.

"I rang and knocked but no one answered." he said, assuming that no one was home.

"Oh," Brooke said, laughing a little to herself. "There was a post game party last night. Rachel's probably still nursing a hang over." she said as if it was no big deal.

Richard Davis wasn't happy that Brooke was living with someone like that.

"Oh, no no no no!" she said, catching on to what he was thinking. "Don't give me that disapproving look. Rachel's been a really good friend to me lately, and in case you didn't notice, she's basically me last year."

The last comment struck him hard, even though Brooke never meant it to mean anything too big. Everyday that he wanted to talk to his daughter, he was faced with the guilt of the father he had been for the first 17 years of his life, and at this point he would be the first to admit that her parents' behavior probably drove her to her reckless ways.

"So what are you doing in Tree Hill? What happened to Paris?" Brooke asked after a minute of silence.

"Well your mother discovered a new spa in the south of France, so she left for a 3 day retreat with some friends we ran into."

"Oh," Brooke said. "Typical," she muttered under her breath.

"So where were you headed when I called?" Her father asked, trying to deflect the attention off of him and her mother.

"To the rivercourt to see Lucas," she said, smiling as she said his name. "My turn. Why did you come back if you have to go back to Paris in a few days?"

"Because I wanted to see you." he said simply.

"You're avoiding why you're really here." she said, reading her father like a book.

"Maybe," he laughed a little.

"Well…"

"Well," he started. "I missed you. A lot. And I know that once your mother and I get back to California, you and I won't be seeing or talking to each other a lot, so I wanted to come see you one last time." he said, ashamed of the last part.

Brooke was a little hurt, but she understood how controlling her mother was.

"It's okay. I get it." she said as they got into her car.

"So where are you taking me?" he asked once they started driving.

"Just to drive around for a little, then to see Lucas."

"Okay," he said. "I have another question."

"I'm listening."

"How did you end up at Rachel's? Weren't you living in an apartment in the beginning of the year?"

"Yep," she said. "But it's a long and complicated story."

"I'm listening," he said, mimicking her earlier statement.

"So," she began. "When I came back from California at the end of the summer I moved into the apartment that you and mom approved. When Nathan and Haley got back together I let them move back in because it really was more their place than mine. So I moved in with Peyton, but then a few weeks ago we uh, got into a huge fight to put it simply. Rachel offered for me to stay with her. Her parents are never around either so it's just the two of us, but don't worry, I'm being fairly responsible."

Her father just nodded along, trying to figure out why he didn't know about where his daughter was living until now.

"What happened with Peyton?" Richard asked after a minute of silence. "She was your best friend for years."

"I know," Brooke said quietly. "It's….not something I like to relive though. Maybe some other time, but I really don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay. So what about the rest of your life? How's everything going?"  
Brooke wasn't used to answering questions like this from her dad, so she had to think a little before answering.

"It's good. I have my friends, and cheerleading, and being student council president," Brooke said, truly happy with everything that she has.

Her father looked at her and smiled proudly.

They talked more about what was going on in Tree Hill. Brooke explained Lucas' new basketball situation and the other events of the town.

Soon they pulled up to the side of the Rivercourt where they saw Lucas shooting alone, so absorbed his own little world that he didn't even notice them show up until he heard the door slam closed.

"Hey broody," Brooke said as she ran up and hugged him.

As happy as he was to see Brooke, he tensed up when he saw her father walking over too.

"Mr. Davis," Lucas greeted him.

"Lucas," He said, shaking his hand. "It's good to see you again."

"You too," Lucas said uncomfortably. He couldn't figure out why Richard Davis seemed much more intimidating now that they knew that Brooke wasn't pregnant.

"So!" Brooke laughed a little, trying to break the tension. Before she could continue her cell rang and she immediately answered. "Hello?...not really…it's a long story….yeah I'll be there soon….bye."

"Who was that?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, that?" Brooke shook it off as no big deal. "It was just Haley," she said as she started to back away. "She.." Brooke began to fake cough to muffle her lame excuse for leaving.

"Do not fake cough me!" Lucas said, mostly joking, knowing that it was hopeless to try to get Brooke to stop from leaving them alone.

In a matter of seconds Brooke was back in her car yelling "I'll see you later," as she drove away.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds as they watched Brooke drive off.

"Does she do that a lot?" Richard asked.

"Yep," Lucas answered, still laughing a little.

"So how are you?" Richard asked.

"I'm good," Lucas said honestly. "We had a pretty dramatic start to this week, but everything seems to be going really well right now."

"How's Brooke?"

"She's good," Lucas said as they sat at the picnic table. "She's worried about college though," He added.

Brooke's father inwardly cursed himself for forgetting to ask about that during their ride over.

"What about it?" he asked.

"She's worried that she won't get into Duke," Lucas said, sensing that Brooke was afraid to talk about this with her father.

"Oh," was all he said.

"She's got great extra curricular stuff," Lucas said. "But her grades aren't exactly stellar."

Her father nodded.

"She won't find out for at least another month, too. So she has all that time to stress about it. Nathan and I found out early because of recruitments, so I don't really know how to relate to her."

Her father nodded again. "where else has she applied?"  
"NYU," Lucas said. "But Nathan Haley and I are all going to Duke, and I know that she wants to go there too, so she hasn't really been thinking about NYU too much."

They talked for a while longer, slowly becoming more comfortable with each other. They talked mostly about Brooke and basketball before deciding to head back into town to find Brooke.

* * *

"Sorry we have to walk," Lucas said as they made their way to the Café.

"It's no problem," Richard said. "Do you usually walk there?"

"Yeah," Lucas said. "It helps me to clear my head."

"It's a nice court."

"Yeah," Lucas agreed. "I've been playing there since I was really little, and now I can just go out there on my own to think." he said. "That's why Brooke calls me Broody, she says that I think and worry too much."

Richard laughed a little at his daughter's always more free spirited personality.

* * *

As they walked into the café they could see Brooke talking animatedly with Karen who was behind the counter.

"Who's Brooke talking to?" Richard asked.

"My mom," Lucas said, causing Richard to stop dead in his tracks. At that moment he realized that his daughter was closer to her boyfriend's mother than she had ever been with either of her own parents, and the thought was already killing him.

Lucas walked over and wrapped his arm around Brooke's waist, giving her a soft kiss on the back of the head before going around to the other side of the counter to greet his mother and get something to drink.

"Hey dad," Brooke said in her usual cheery tone as he finally walked over.

"Hey,"

"Dad, this is Karen, Lucas' mom," Brooke said. "Karen this is my father," they greeted each other politely.

"So where did you run off to earlier?" her father asked.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Brooke said, putting on a cute face so that they wouldn't be mad. "I had to help Haley with some stuff. How was your little bonding session, anyway?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow towards Lucas.

"Fine," Lucas said. "Some of us are actually mature," he shot back playfully.

Brooke just shrugged and was about to say something else when she saw Rachel come into the café wearing sunglasses to try to ease her hangover.

"Well, well," Brooke said. "Rachel Gatina in the land of the living; this is a shocker."

"Yeah," she said approaching them. "Well I thought I should at least make an appearance."

"What are you really doing here?" Brooke asked. "I thought vampires didn't like daylight."

"Then what are you doing out of bed? or should I say Lucas' bed? That is where you ran off to this morning isn't it?" Rachel fought back, shutting Brooke up immediately. "That's what I thought. But really, I'm supposed to meet Mouth in a few minutes."  
"Have fun," Brooke said as Rachel grabbed a cup of coffee and met Mouth outside. "Don't do anything too stupid!" she called as Rachel left.

"So!" Lucas said, jumping back into the conversation.

"Are all of your conversations like that?" her father asked.

"Yep," Brooke said. She took one last sip of her hot chocolate before jumping off of her seat.

"I'll call you later, Broody," she said as she gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek. "By Karen," she said as she basically dragged her father out of the café.

"Wow," Karen said after they left.

"Uh-huh." Lucas agreed. If having Brooke's father in town wasn't weird enough, Rachel's conversation didn't help matters.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey everyone! sorry it's taken so long, but here's the next chapter. Thanks for being so patient.

I should have updates posted more frequently now because everything is finally calming down. Please review and leave suggestions/requests for the next few chapters. Enjoy

* * *

Monday… (btw, the last chapter was Saturday)

"Luke!" Nathan called from behind him in the lay up lines before the game stared.

"Yeah?" he said as he turned around, not really paying attention.

"What is going on?" Nathan asked as he pulled Lucas over to the side. "It's the quarter finals, you think you could get your head in the game for the next hour?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, taking a deep breath. "Sorry."

"What is going on?" Nathan asked again, seeing that his brother still wasn't really paying attention.

"Uh, just nervous," Lucas said.

"About the game? Don't be, we'll kill these guys." Nathan reassured him.

"Not exactly," Lucas said as he discretely motioned over to the stands where Karen, Deb, and none other than Richard Davis were sitting.

"Ohhhh," Nathan smirked a little. "You want to impress your girlfriend's daddy," Nathan toyed with him.

"Would you shut up!"

"Sure, sure, whatever," Nathan threw his arms up in mock surrender. "Just don't choke tonight."

"Nathan!" Lucas said, now a little annoyed. "Seriously, not what I need right now."

"Oh would you calm down," Nathan said more seriously. "It's not a big deal. You'll be great tonight, just forget about him watching you, and remember that Brooke's cheering for you," Nathan said, smirking at the last part.

Lucas smiled a little and looked over at Brooke who was on the sidelines with the other cheerleaders, talking to Rachel about god only knows what.

* * *

It was an easy win for the Ravens in the state quarter finals. Lucas, though only playing 15 minutes, still had one of his better games of the season. That, combined with Nathan's dominance in the paint and Skillz' moves at point, the Ravens were unstoppable.

"Yo Luke!" Skillz called, making his way across the now almost empty gym.

The game was over and the fans had gone home…well most had gone home. A bunch of seniors, juniors, the cheerleaders, and of course the players were all getting ready to go to Rachel's for a post game party, even though it was a Monday night. Rachel, Brooke, and surprisingly Haley had planned the party...and the one for after the semi finals...and the one for after the championship. Lucas still didn't understand why Brooke had to leave him with her father so that she could go set up a keg or two, but Brooke quickly stopped his complaining by convincing him that she was throwing the party 'all for him' (which he clearly didn't believe, but the intense make out sessions helped to make him forget the awkward place she had left him in with her father).

"Luke," Skillz said again as he approached Lucas. "You coming to the party now or what?"

Lucas looked over to Brooke, who was sitting in the bleachers with her dad.

"Yeah, uh," Lucas said, troubled by the look on Brooke's face. "You and Bevin go ahead, I'll meet you guys there in a little bit."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, waving him off. "Just tell Nathan and Haley the same thing. I'll be there soon."

"Alright," Skillz said and then turned around to go meet Bevin by the car.

Lucas quietly walked over to Brooke and Richard.

"Hey," he said softly. "Is everything okay?"

"How'd you know?" Brooke asked, laughing a little.

"The way you were playing with your phone in your hands," Lucas said as if it was obvious.

Brooke smiled softly, loving how well he knew her and that even the smallest comments could make her love him so much more.

"I'm uh," Richard Davis began. "I have to hop on the red eye in a few hours, so this is goodbye I guess." he said solemnly as he stood up.

"Oh," was all Lucas could say at first. "I'll leave you two alone then."

Richard nodded.

"It was good to see you again," Richard said, extending his hand for Lucas.

Lucas took his hand, but what surprised him is that he actually pulled Lucas in for a small hug, but Lucas soon realized that there was a purpose when Richard whispered in his ear:

"Take good care of her for me."

Lucas nodded when the broke apart.

"I'll meet you outside in a minute," Brooke said quietly.

Lucas nodded, then turned and left the gym, leaving Brooke and her dad to say goodbye.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked Brooke as she walked up to him at his car.

She shrugged and Lucas could see that she was upset, so he pulled her into a tight hug.

"So what now?" Lucas asked as they got in the car.

"Do you really want to go to the party?" Brooke asked.

"I'll survive if we don't go."

"Can we go back to your place?" Brooke asked quietly. Any other day Lucas would have taken this as a different kind of invitation, but today it was different.

"Of course," he said. Lucas took out his phone and called Skillz, just to tell him that they weren't going. The rest of the car ride was silent.

* * *

After they got to Lucas' room, he went through his drawers and got some pajamas for both of them.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Lucas asked before handing her the clothes.

"Yeah," Brooke said softly. "You played a great game broody, and I'm sure the party is great, but I'm just not up for a party tonight. Odd I know, coming from me, but just not tonight."

"I understand," Lucas said softly and handed her the clothes. They both got changed and ready for bed. Lucas quickly went and told Karen that Brooke was staying over so that she wouldn't walk in on them in the morning, and after that they settled into bed together, Lucas holding Brooke tightly as if he was trying to protect her from whatever was hurting her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lucas asked after a minute of silence.

"Not yet," Brooke said quietly.

It was the 'yet' part that made Lucas surprisingly content. He understood her not wanting to talk about everything right away, but it was the fact that she would –that she wanted to tell him soon that made him happy. They were actually opening up to each other; sharing their problems and being there for each other like they should have been all along.

* * *

5 days later (Saturday) on the bus on the way to the state championship game…

The bus was fairly quiet. There were only a few hushed conversations going on at this point. After the first half hour, most of the cheerleaders had quieted down. The guys were too nervous and 'in the zone' to have conversations with each other, so most resorted to listening to their ipods.

"Hey," Lucas said, nudging Brooke who was sitting next to him. He had just looked up for the first time in about a half an hour, only to find Brooke staring aimlessly out the window.

"Whatcha thinking 'bout, Pretty Girl?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled, finally turning to look at him.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked slowly.

Brooke furrowed her brow, debating whether or not she wanted to answer the question, because she knew that if she did then she would have to have a full conversation about it.

"I miss him," she said quietly, deciding it was time that she talked about it with someone.

"I'm sorry."

"I know," she said, still quietly, as if she was afraid to keep talking. "It's just weird, you know? I mean before this, every time my parents left I missed them in a 'they're my parents so I have an uncontrollable bond to them' way. Now I actually miss him, like I miss talking to him and just having him around….it was a nice feeling to know that he was here."

Lucas didn't know what to say. He couldn't think of anything to make her not miss her father. It was almost like the way that she couldn't say anything to make him not miss Keith.

Instead of speaking Lucas put his arms around her waist and pulled her onto his lap, holding her close; trying to show her that he was still there with her.

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad if I knew that I was going to see him again soon, but I'm not." Brooke spoke again.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to see him again for a really long time."

"Brooke, you're talking like he's moving to Siberia or something."

"He might as well be," Brooke said, sighing a little. "Even though I hardly ever see him, I still know him really well. So I know that the look in his eyes he had when he was talking on his cell said that he's going to be swamped in work probably for the next few months. And I know that for some strange reason he actually wants to preserve whatever is left of his relationship with my mother, so it's not like they're going to be taking any family trips out here to see me any time soon. Maybe it was just his guilt that made him come and see me" Brooke said, trying hard not to choke up. There was so much more that she wanted to say, but she didn't know how to put it into words just yet.

"Don't say that, Brooke. Your dad loves you and he came to see you because he wanted to; he wanted to spend time with you and get to know you. He may have left feeling guilty, but he didn't come out of guilt. Don't ever convince yourself that he came out of guilt because he didn't," Lucas tried to reassure her.

"And no matter where he is, you still have me here with you," Lucas said softly, whispering into her hair. "I'll always be here for you." he said. "And so will your dad, I have no doubt that you two will talk more than ever, and I know that it's hard being away from him now that you were finally getting close to him again, but you need to know that he loves you. You're his little girl, he'll always love you….And so will I. I'm here, whatever you need, I'm here."

Brooke stayed silent for a minute, letting one tear slip out of her eyes and down her cheek. It was different crying than she was used to. It was almost like she was confused. Part of her missed her father so much, and the other part of her couldn't be happier for where she and Lucas were in their relationship.

"I love you," she said quietly but confidently.

"I love you too."

"So what are _you_ thinking about, Broody?" Brooke asked, trying to get her mind off of her problems.

Lucas chuckled a little. Brooke wasn't even looking at him and she knew that he was deep in thought.

"Are you nervous for the game?" Brooke asked sweetly.

"No…yes…kinda." Lucas said, not really sure of what he was saying. "I mean it's the state championship, of course I'm nervous. But at the same time I know that we're gonna kill these guys. I'm uh, I'm just more nervous for what happens _after_ the game." Lucas said the last part quietly; he definitely wasn't talking about the post-game party.

Brooke knew what he meant, but she was scared to admit it herself. Ever since Lucas had begun playing basketball again, she had tired her hardest to push her worries to the back of her mind. Her worries that something might happen to him out of the court, and her worries about the open heart surgery he would have after the game there were headed to at that moment. The thought of losing Lucas scared Brooke more than anything. She couldn't lose him; she loves him and she needs him there with her.

"You're going to be okay," she said with a voice of confidence; confidence she knew was fake. She was terrified, but if Lucas knew that he would be even more scared than he already is, and she needed to be strong for him.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do," she said.

He smiled softly at the fact that she could always make him feel better.

"So," Brooke said in her cheery voice, trying to change the subject to something less serious. "What do you think Naley's doing?"

"Naley? Really?" Lucas said laughing a little. "Um," Lucas thought for a moment. "Nathan is probably in his own little world listening to some hard core rap, and Haley is probably asleep in his lap."

"You think?" Brooke asked, surprised at his specificity.

"Yep," Lucas said coolly and motioned to the seat in front on them. Brooke peaked over and laughed a little when she saw them doing exactly what Lucas had said.

"Let's go boys!" Brooke and Lucas jumped a little when they heard Whitey's booming voice. Whitey could catch everyone's attention with only a few words.

Everyone grabbed their bags and stood to get off the bus.

"You ready Luke?"

"I guess so," Lucas said as he took Brooke's hand and they made their way off the bus and towards the arena.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it!!! please leave lots and lots of reviews.

And thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. i appreciate every single one of them. i know this sounds really cheesy, but the reviews really do inspire me to write more.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey everyone. I know that this is a really short chapter, but i wanted to post it now. There is only going to be one more chapter to this fic (its too hard and it'll take too long, and it'll get really boring if i go through the surgery and prom and graduation and all of that stuff), then i'm going to start a sequel (because ive had ideas for it for a long time, and i really want to get to writing it).

With that said, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Lucas sat in a bar stool in Karen's Café looking at the people around him. He smiled slightly knowing exactly what put them all in this mood. After all, it has only been a few hours….

_Lucas took a step behind the baseline and waited for the ref to come over with the ball. He was feeling great. He had played for about 13 minutes and had done everything right while he was in, though Nathan was having the game of his life. He looked up at the scoreboard; the Ravens were up by 4 with 37 seconds left. He kept his eyes on the score until he felt Brooke take a step closer to him. _

_"You win tonight and I'll make it worth your while," she whispered huskily in his ear. _

_Lucas couldn't help but to smirk as the ref handed him the ball and he passed it in to Skillz. Lucas made a quick and discrete move to the three point line in time to catch the pass from Skillz. He took a shot and watched it swish through the net, making it look easy. _

_Lucas winked at Brooke before heading down to the other end of the court to play defense. _

_7 point lead and 30 seconds left. _

_5 point lead and 12 seconds left. _

_Lucas caught the ball with 4 seconds left. He held it in his hands and could feel the rush of adrenaline and feeling of ecstasy as he threw the ball straight up into the air. _

_That was it; the Tree Hill Ravens had just won the North Carolina State Championship game. _

_He could feel his teammates jumping up and down around him. Him hugging Whitey, Nathan, Skillz and the rest of the guys. _

_And then he could feel himself walking towards Brooke. _

_She was just standing in front of him, looking almost as if she was shy, but he knew that she wasn't. _

_Brooke couldn't keep her composure for long. A huge grin appeared on her face and she ran right into his arms. _

_"I'm proud of you, Luke," she whispered into his ear. _

_Lucas held her tighter, thinking that nothing could be better than that moment. _

"So how does it feel?" Haley asked as she sat down next to Lucas.

"Hmm?" he mumbled as she snapped him out of his day dream.

"To go from the rivercourt pick-up games to state champion." Haley elaborated.

A small grin crossed Lucas' face. "Pretty amazing."

"I think amazing would be an understatement at this point," Nathan said as he walked over and joined his brother and wife. Nathan had been wearing a goofy smile since the buzzer went off. On the way back from the game he joked that he couldn't get rid of the smile, but that he didn't want to. After everything that he had been put through as a kid, Nathan finally felt as though he accomplished something with the game, and that feeling wasn't going to be leaving him quickly.

"Mind if I steal you away, superstar?" Lucas turned to see Brooke next to him with a sly smile on her face.

"Not at all," Lucas smiled. "We'll talk to you guys later," Lucas said to Nathan and Haley as he and Brooke began to navigate their way through the café.

Basketball players, cheerleaders, and fans crowded the confetti covered café all celebrating the Raven's historic win.

Lucas waved over to Karen who was sitting with Deb and Whitey before he and Brooke snuck out of the café.

* * *

"So where to pretty girl?" Lucas asked once they were in Brooke's car.

"Anywhere you want."

"Hmm," Lucas thought for a moment. "Well I would say the Rivercourt, but I'm pretty sure that there are some games going on, then I'd say the beach, but it's too cold, the—"

"How about we just go back to your place?" Brooke cut in. "I think Rachel's throwing a party at hers so your house is definitely better."

"Okay," Lucas said. "But what about my mom?"

"From the looks of the café, she'll be there for a while," Brooke said pointing to another group of kids that entered.

"Looks like we're going to my house," Lucas said as they drove off.

* * *

Once they go to Lucas' bedroom, Lucas, followed by Brooke, collapsed on the bed.

"It's been a looooong day," Brooke said as she snuggled closer to him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"It has." Lucas said and then took a deep breath. "I love you, you know that right?"

"Yesss," Brooke said, slightly confused at his tone. "And I love you too, more than anything." She said reassuringly. "But why do you sound like your about to tell me that you're moving away in the morning or something?"

Lucas chuckled a little at how fast her crazy mind works.

"I'm definitely not leaving; I just thought I would let you know." Lucas said simply.

"Okayyy," Brooke laughed a little. "So what do we do now?" Brooke asked after a minute of silence.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked. "Like _now_ now? Cause I can think of quiet a few things to do right now," Lucas said slyly.

Brooke laughed a little. "Well yeah, but what I meant was what do we do now that basketball is over."

Lucas thought for a moment. "We take one day at a time. I have my surgery, and then we look forward to prom, and graduation, and the summer, and then college."

"That's a lot of stuff to look forward to if we're only going one day at a time."

"Yeah," Lucas chuckled a bit.

"So uh," Brooke began as she turned to face Lucas so that their lips were mere centimeters apart. "What were you thinking of doing _now_ now?"

"Well I—" Lucas started.

"You know what?" Brooke said as she moved slightly closer to him. They could both feel their unsteady breath on each other's cheeks and necks. "I think that you should stop talking and start showing me."

Lucas smiled, nodded, and then leaned in and kissed Brooke softly.

It didn't take long for the kiss to escalate, and before they new what was happening, Lucas' shirt was off and he had propped himself up on top of her, trailing kisses down her neck, frantically yet passionately beginning what would be a long night between the two.

* * *

I hope you liked it. Please leave tons of reviews!

btw, i may write a prom one shot set within this fic because im skipping it in the actual fic, so look out for that and the sequel. (ill probably tell you the names of them when i put up the last chapter of this fic (which will be up by tuesday night...maybe even tomorrow- but no promises for that)

thanks again


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone!!! So this is the last chapter. It's sad, I know, but it had to come at some point. Anyway, thank you soooooo much to everyone who reviewed this story. Every single review means so much to me.

Enjoy!

* * *

They couldn't believe that they had made it. _Class of 2007_, god that sounded good.

Brooke stood in the doorway of the café, looking at the scene before her. It was her friends; her family.

Only an hour ago did they officially become adults when the graduated. Haley gave her valedictorian speech and surprisingly, Brooke was asked to give one too because she was student council president. Lucas helped her with it of course, but she was able to write most of it on her own now. They all took the big walk across the gym floor; accepting their diplomas in front of everyone; feeling like they truly accomplished something. And they did. Making it through high school with all that they went through was a huge accomplishment.

Brooke kept looking around, holding on to the moment that she was witnessing. Karen, Deb, some of the other parents, and even her father set up the food. Her father had come in for the weekend to see his little girl graduate; he even convinced her mother to come for the ceremony, but feeling out of place in Brooke's life, she left afterward. Haley was helping them set up, all the while stealing "cute married glances with Nathan" as Brooke called them.

Nathan was at one of the booths with Lucas and Skillz. They were all arguing about who was going to be who when Duke played UNC (where skillz was going) the next year. The argument wasn't getting anywhere of course, so they ended up going at it about old basketball stats. _Typical guys_ Brooke thought.

She looked over to another table where she saw Rachel and Bevin talking about what they were going to wear to the party that Rachel was throwing that night.

Brooke smiled softly at the people before her; the ones that had been there with her through _everything_.

Brooke felt her eyes travel back to Lucas for a minute. He looked happy; like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He had been that way ever since he started playing basketball after his recovery. The day that Lucas had his surgery was one of the scariest days of Brooke's life. She spent hours sitting silently in the waiting room, hours sitting by his bed while he slept, hours taking care of his after he went home, and most of all she spent endless hours worrying about his safety. She couldn't lose Lucas; she loved him; she needed him.

Lucas in turn spend hours trying to get Brooke not to worry so much, and though it was still in the back of her mind, he had convinced Brooke that everything was okay now. And it was.

Granted, there were still many things that were left unsolved; Dan's sudden care for his sons (though Lucas was still extremely suspicious and hesitant around him), Brooke and her mother's relationship, whether or not Lucas' heart surgery would be effective next season, and some more worries that the average high school student shouldn't have to deal with. But they all had to, and it had all turned out for the better. If there hadn't been so much drama, Nathan and Haley probably wouldn't be together the way they are now, Lucas and Brooke sure as hell wouldn't be, Skillz and Bevin would have never met, and Rachel would not have become such a close friend to everyone. Everything that had happened, happened for a reason. The reason was to bring them to this point.

Brooke smiled softly at the people before her; the ones that had been there with her through _everything_.

Brooke finally fully entered the café, letting the door behind her close which caused the soft bell to ring. It caught a few people's attention, but most of all, it caught Lucas'.

Lucas practically jumped out of his seat with a grin on his face when he saw Brooke at the door. He quickly walked over to Brooke and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You okay?" Lucas asked.

Brooke nodded.

"Did you take care of everything you wanted to?" Lucas asked.

Brooke nodded again.

"Yeah, yeah I did," she finally spoke. "I think it's time to move on."

Lucas nodded sadly, and Brooke couldn't help but to replay what had just happened over and over in her head.

* * *

_"Hey," Peyton could hear the unmistakable raspy voice just a few feet behind her. _

_"Hey," Peyton replied, trying to hide the surprise, excitement, and fear. _

_Brooke slowly closed the gap between the two and tentatively sat down next to Peyton. They were under the bridge where they used to hang out when they were younger. _

_"You remembered," Peyton said quietly. _

_"Yeah," Brooke said quietly as she closed her eyes, thinking of that night. "We were 14, it was the night before the first day of high school, and we promised that on the day of graduation, we would meet here. No matter what's going on in our lives, we'd meet here." _

_"So why'd you come?" Peyton asked. "I mean I know why I'm here. I'm here out of the stupid hope that you'll forgive me. But again, why are you here?" _

_"Because I said I would be here." _

_"I'm only going to ask one more time," Peyton said, trying to be patient. "Why did you come?" _

_Brooke stayed silent for a minute, debating whether or not to tell Peyton how she really felt. The only reason why she was afraid to tell Peyton is because she wasn't sure if she wanted to admit what she was feeling; because then it would be real. _

_"I came to tell you…" Brooke began to take the plunge. "I came to tell you that I have to move on. I can't hate you anymore." Brooke said, feeling a little guilty when she saw the glimmer of hope in Peyton's eyes. "I can't hate you anymore, but I can never be friends with you again," Brooke elaborated. _

_Peyton stomach dropped at the words. This was the one thing she didn't want to happen. At least if Brooke yelled at her it would mean that she still cared. _

_"I.." Brooke continued, finding each word harder than the previous. "I can't let you hurt me again and I can't hold on to this hatred and anger. So I have to just let you go…I'm going to New York and then Duke, and you're…" Brooke trailed off, realizing that she had no idea what Peyton's plans were. _

_"I'm going to the Savannah School of Art and Design," Peyton filled in. _

_"Good luck." Brooke said quietly. _

_"Thanks," Peyton said even softer. "You too." _

_Brooke nodded and then continued. _

_"You need to know that no matter what, no matter where we end up, even if we never see each other again, you'll still be my best friend. You will always be my best friend, and I'll always love you as if you were my sister." Brooke said trying desperately not to get choked up. "But right now, I can't be around you. I hate the way that you make me feel. I hate the insecurities and the betrayal and the humiliation, and most of all I hate that dull pain that sits in my heart every time I think of you. I think of you and the amazing times we've had, and then I think of the ways that you've hurt me." _

_"I'm sorry," Peyton whispered. _

_"Yeah," Brooke said. "Me too." _

_"So is this goodbye?" Peyton asked, finally giving up. _

_"I guess," Brooke said sighing. "Go spend the day with your dad and your brother and go to the party tonight and spend it with your friends. You deserve a great graduation day." Brooke said as she began to get up and leave. "One more thing." _

_"Yeah?" Peyton asked, turning to face Brooke who was already a few feet away. _

_"I may not be able to be friends with you right now, but if you ever need me, in a few months or a few years, if you ever need me…don't hesitate to find me. Don't hesitate for a second cause I'll always be there for you." Brooke said, repeating 'we just can't be friends anymore' over and over in her head. She knew it was what was best for her, but that didn't make it hurt any less. _

_"So I guess maybe sometime in the future I'll see you again, Brooke Davis." Peyton said with tears in her eyes. The guilt and gut-wrenching pain she was feeling over what she had done to her best-friend felt like it could kill her in that moment. _

_"I guess so," Brooke replied, letting one tear fall down her face. She wiped it away before she could even acknowledge it. "Bye P. Sawyer," Brooke whispered as she walked away. _

_

* * *

_

"You okay?" Lucas asked, pulling Brooke out of her daze.

"Yeah," Brooke said honestly. "I'll be okay."

Lucas eyed her carefully, trying to find something that he could help her with.

"As long as I'm here with you, I'm okay," Brooke said, reassuring him.

Lucas laughed a little and kissed her on the forehead.

"I thought I was supposed to be the cheesy one," He said as he led Brooke towards their friends who were now all sitting together.

"Maybe you're starting to rub off on me," Brooke replied coolly. "You never know."

"Well you've certainly changed me," Lucas said.

"I know," Brooke said grinning a little.

Lucas chuckled again as they sat down, immediately bringing themselves into the lively conversation with the 5 other graduates.

* * *

"So how does it feel?" Lucas asked as he wrapped his arms around Brooke's waist.

They were standing alone on the balcony off of Brooke and Rachel's bedroom, looking over the party of graduates below them.

"How does what feel?" Brooke asked.  
"Everything," Lucas said simply.

"Amazing, and gratifying, and scary all at the same time," Brooke admitted.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "I feel the same way."

Brooke nodded and they stayed silent for a few minutes.

"Stop worrying," Lucas whispered into Brooke's hair.

"How'd you know?" Brooke asked, turning around in his arms to face him.

"Because I know you."

"Yeah," Brooke smiled a little. "Yeah you do."

"Listen to me Brooke," Lucas said sternly but lovingly. "You're going to have an amazing time this summer. Don't be scared of it; just enjoy it." Lucas said. "And before you know it, it'll be the fall and we'll be together again…..Don't be scared, just enjoy it," Lucas repeated.

Brooke smiled softly, loving how his words could do so much for her.

"I love you," Brooke said.

"I love you too, Pretty Girl," Lucas said as he brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Lucas smiled and then leaned in and gently kissed Brooke.

Both Brooke and Lucas had their eyes closed tightly when the pulled away.

"I love you," Lucas said. "I just had to say it again."

"I love you too," Brooke said, giggling a little. "But let's go downstairs and find everyone, we'll have plenty of time for other stuff later," Brooke said, cocking an eyebrow as she took Lucas' hand in hers and led him downstairs.

* * *

"Hey," Haley said as Brooke and Lucas walked over to them.

Brooke, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Rachel, Bevin, Skillz, and Mouth were all standing together. They were a good distance away from the big crowd where people could be seen throwing old high school memorabilia into a bonfire.

"So," Rachel said as she handed everyone cups. "I think a toast is in order. A toast to our future."

"To basketball," Nathan said and Lucas and Skillz nodded.

"To college," Mouth said.

"To New York," Rachel said nudging Brooke. Rachel would be joining Brooke in New York that summer.

"To growing up," Brooke said. "To finding ourselves and others along the way," Brooke said, winking at Lucas.

"To surviving high school," Haley said.

"To Tree Hill," Lucas said after a moment. Everyone agreed and they raised their cups to each other. "To Tree Hill," Lucas whispered to himself again.

* * *

That's it! I hope you liked it. Please review this chapter and leave suggestions/hopes for the sequel which should be started very soon (as well as that prom one shot).

Thanks again

-Allie


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